No Place Like Home
by WannabeGallagher
Summary: Sometimes Cammie just wishes she could be normal, but it's a little hard when you have a terrorist organisation monitoring your every move, setting fire to your school, compromising your holiday. Yes, Cammie wants to be normal, but she realises there's nothing she wants more than Zach by her side. Sometimes, There's no place like home when you're surrounded by people you love.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own the book, I don't own the characters, and I don't own the image which is from the UK book cover of GG5, the amazing Ally Carter does.**

**A/N: This is my new story, it's going to be a long one so be sure to follow, I'll be updating really regularly too! I'm not too worried if I don't get many followers or reviews because I loved writing this one. Set end of GG4. **

_A Code black, a life threatening injury, death, betrayal and determination. What more do you want from a story? When the Gallagher Academy catches on fire Cammie must make a decision, between life and death._

I softly padded down the corridors, knowing it was only a matter of time until my friends came searching for me, I'd missed dinner and that meant having to give a long explanation. I sighed. I needed to be alone, I needed some thinking time.

Zach had just told me his idea about us running away, I had shrugged the idea off but now I was seriously considering it, however a dislocated shoulder was enough warning to tell me that The Circle were good. I had to be better.

I found myself in the faculty sleeping department corridor before I knew what I was doing. I suddenly remembered Zach was staying here and quickly turned on my heel ready to make a quick escape without being seen when a movement down the end of the corridor caught my eye. I made another quick turn in time to notice a figure gently pull on the torch at the end of the corridor and to my complete amazement the figure slipped inside a tiny gap in the wall.

I was left breathless as I realised that the figure must have been a teacher, the figure had been so tall and I was pretty sure there were no students that height here. I finally decided that it was most likely my mother, although I had no idea what she would be doing in there, but memories of my mom crying by herself filled my eyes. I just stood there for a moment, staring into the distance.

I felt a touch on my shoulder; I didn't hesitate before I used the weight to my advantage and slung them over my shoulder, bringing them down hard onto the stone floor in front of me. I heard a gasp down the end of the corridor but it was like I was possessed. I was on top of my attacker pinning him onto the floor, he was out cold. Tears were leaking down my face as all I could think about was killing him. Strong arms were around me and before I could attack he was on top of me pinning me down. I looked into my new attackers eyes and felt a surge of rage but then quicker than I can click my fingers something in his eyes stopped me, stopped the power that was possessing me.

Everything I had done suddenly hit me like a bus, and I felt my body judder like my mind had suddenly returned to me. I looked to my right and looked in horror as Dr. Fibs' still body stared back at me, his eyes closed.

I looked back up and took in the boy in front of me. Zach. It felt like his eyes were radiating calmness to me but his face registered pure confusion as he too glanced at Dr. Fibs.

'Cammie?' he questioned.

I stuttered my way through the alphabet trying to find some letters to fit into a word that sounded half coherent. I failed. 'I… er…'

Luckily I wasn't trying too long as a loud sound knocked me to my senses.

'CODE BLACK, CODE BLACK'

I lay paralysed on the floor but Zach was up in an instant. He got some kind of pill out of his bag and stuffed it in Dr Fibs' mouth. I recognised it as a memory eraser pill and mentally made a note to thank Zach later before he pulled me up off the ground.

'I don't know what that was about Gallagher Girl but you're going to have to tell me later because right now we need to GET OUT OF HERE'

Zach started pulled me towards the end of the corridor, towards the secret corridor.

'Zach' I yelled, struggling to be heard over the loud sirens screeching in my ears and thundering footsteps coming from the staff members pushing past. I was completely ignored; sometimes it was hard being a chameleon, especially when I was probably the one they were trying to find!

'Zach' I tried again and he finally turned towards me.

'Let go of my hand, it's hard to run when you've got my hand in a death grip!'

Zach finally let go as he yelled 'Fine, but stay right beside me'

We ran on for a while, not daring to look at the havoc that was probably taking place behind us.

I knew what I had to do. I got to the end of the corridor and casually pulled on the torch, slipping through the gap that was instantly created. The door must have been motion censored because as soon as I stepped in the door sealed shut behind me and I was plunged into darkness. I tried to calm down my beating heart as I thought of my mission.

_At 5.01 on a Saturday evening the operative experienced a slight situation in which she knocked out Dr. Fibs but was prevented from killing him, the operative was unaware of what the hell she was doing. The Operative noticed a secret passageway and noticed her mother Headmistress Morgan slipping into it. The Operative decided to follow to observe Agent Morgan's activity in the Secret passageway, even if it did mean ditching the totally cute guy operative Zachary Goode, because what kind of spy would she be if she didn't take the opportunity to find out once and for all what was wrong with her mother._

I ran my hand down the wall, trying to find some kind of light switch. Or anything to be honest. That was until I heard voiced drifting out from the wall.

'She was with me, I have no idea where she went but I think she might have gone down the corridor the other way.' I strained to hear Zach's words. 'Ur… no, I have no idea what happened to Dr Fibbs, I'm guessing he was trying to do a crazy experiment again!'

I couldn't help but smile slightly at Zach's words. That was until I heard another voice.

'Has anyone found my daughter yet? The security department say they found two of The Circle agents trying to climb the wall, I'm getting a bit worried about her…' My mother's worried voice seemed to carry high above the rest of the Faculty member's voices as they all discussed my whereabouts.

'Maybe we should go to the common room, she's probably waiting there for us and all this worry is for nothing!' I heard Dr Steve's voice boom out.

I heard the voice of approximately six faculty members agree. I sighed in relief as I heard footsteps fade into the distance.

Then realisation hit me. My mum was out there… which meant I was in here with…

'Cammie, fancy seeing you here!' An evil laugh filled the corridor as Catherine's voice filled my ears. Before I knew what was happening something hard and heavy struck the back of my head. I fell down unconscious as the black room lit up and Catherine's face was highlighted in the light. All I could see though was blackness.

ZACH POV

The Code Black was still ringing in my ears but I could hardly hear it as concern for Cammie was filling my body. What if she'd been captured? She wasn't strong enough, she'd almost lost her life a few weeks ago and she'd dislocated her shoulder, there was no way she was in any condition to fight. With about a thousand thoughts clogging my mind I quickened my pace as I ran to the common room with the staff, praying that Cammie was there.

I walked into Cammie's class common room which was where her class were expected to go when there was an alarm. The Common Room was in chaos.

Screams seemed to be coming from every corner as me and the staff were instantly swamped by girls asking all kinds of questions.

'Will we be able to put our Cove Ops training into practise now?' Anna cried.

'Can I practise my new death grip?' Mick cried from the other side of the room.

'I heard The Prime Ministers in the school and one of his guards turned out to be a terrorist!' Tina cried.

I pushed past the ridiculous questions and girls as I made my way to the other side of the room where three girls sat in silence.

'Where's Cammie?' Liz asked with a definite shake in her voice.

'She's probably just having a makeup dilemma' Macey stated, trying to keep her voice from cracking. 'I told her she should wait for me before she even attempts to put on Liquid eyeliner!'

'Liz, don't worry' Bex's strong voice rose above the rest. 'You know Cammie, she's strong, and she's going to be fine.'

As soon as they saw me approaching they stood up, their faces etched with worry.

'Well?' Bex said, getting straight to the point as usual.

All I could do was shake my head and stare at the floor.

Before they had a chance to make me explain further Headmistress Morgan's voice silenced the whole room and miraculously the Code Black stopped ringing.

'Girls, I need your attention a minute'. She waited until you could hear a pin drop.

'I'm afraid a girl from the junior class has gone missing. Her name is Demi Williams. Another girl has also gone missing.' She collected her herself and I could see tears form in her eyes and her voice cracked as she said 'Cameron Morgan'.

Whispers echoed around the room as everyone took this in and I could hear sobs echoing around the room from Liz.

'We would like you to stay in here until further notice while we search the castle.' She paused as she seemed to consider something. 'Zach, Bex, Liz and Macey could you come with me please'

We followed Headmistress Morgan out of the room immediately and into the corridor which was eerily silent.

She opened her mouth to speak but closed it straight away when she saw most of the staff returning along with two girls who were obviously twins, they looked young and I realised they must be friends of that other junior girl who had gone missing. They looked scared out of their minds as tears ran down their face and they stared up at the headmistress in awe.

'These are Demi's best friends, Harriet and Hannah Richards.' Madam Dabney said.

Headmistress Morgan nodded and gave them a motherly smile. 'Harriet and Hannah, do you have any idea on where Demi could be?'

Harriet burst into tears and tried to explain between sobs. 'It's our entire fault… Our mother was unable to take us back to our home for summer and so we asked her if it was okay to stay with her and her family, she got really mad at us and screamed, she said her family was none of our business. Then she disappeared into a secret passage earlier and we haven't seen her since.' Harriet paused for effect as she added 'I think there's something she's not telling us about her family, she's always so secretive about them.'

Headmistress Morgan nodded her head. I just stood there thinking, my eyes cross eyed as I concentrated. I tried to think. Demi… that name… it was so familiar. Then it hit me like a bus and I gasped.

As a spy headmistress Morgan noticed. 'Zach?' she questioned.

I gritted my teeth as I said 'Demi, her parents, I remember now. Her parents are some of the top people within The Circle. They've been trying to persuade Demi to join for ages now but she won't. She's like me.' I added.

The twins just stood with their, mouths open in shock as they clearly tried to register what this meant.

Harriet spoke out again 'Poor Demi, we need to find her…'

Headmistress Morgan nodded her agreement and her voice was high and shrill as she said 'Staff please can you keep searching the castle, there's nowhere for them to go, all the passageways leading outside are closed off. I think Cammie and Demi will be together, maybe hidden in that passageway the twins are talking about, let's just hope they're there alone.' She paused before adding 'Twins, do you think you could show us where this passageway was that Demi went into?'

The twins looked at each other and nodded. 'We think we remember'.

We all followed the twins down the corridor, hoping we weren't too late.

CAMMIE POV

When I woke up I found a girl staring at me, her face bloody. I decided I was imagining things and closed my eyes again, bringing my hand up to the back of my head and feeling hot sticky stuff leaking over my hand, I winced as I pressed harder and felt pain sear through my head. I drew my hand away and found a puddle of blood cupped in my hand. 'This is not good' I thought. The girl was still sitting there staring at me, her eyes full of fear and tears leaking down her cheeks. She crawled over to me, clearly too weak to walk. She seemed to be thinking hard as she opened her mouth and said 'I'm not going to hurt you, I'm Demi, my mom's with The Circle, but I'm not.'

I nodded, ignoring the banging pain in my head 'What do they want with us?' I asked calmly, seeing how scared Demi was made me realise I had to be the strong one.

'They want to kill us' She simply stated, then seeing my eyes widen she added 'Catherine is killing me because I won't join, they're killing you because apparently you won't do what they want, I think they've done something to your brain, I'm not too sure'

I felt my eyes widen even more, why would they kill me because of that? It didn't make sense. But then I thought back to what I had done to Dr Fibs. I gasped. What the hell had they done to me?

Tears cascaded down Demi's face and I realised how much pain she must be in, her parents wanted her dead, even Zach's mom wasn't twisted enough to kill her own son. I glanced at her again and saw the cuts and bruises all over her, she was holding her arm which was at a funny angle and had swollen up incredibly.

I suddenly found myself pulling her in towards me, hugging her close to me. She cried in my arms, her body shaking.

I realised she must only be about twelve, she should be worrying about boys and homework not a terrorist group coming to kill her. It made me so angry.

I was about to get up and have a look around the dark room and look for an escape route when I heard footsteps approaching. And a laugh, a laugh that I had heard far too often.

'Oh look what we have here, looks like our little Gallagher Girls have made friends' Catherine cackled as a light turned on above us and I gasped seeing the full extent of Demi's injuries. Her whole face was covered with blood; her body seemed to have more scratches than skin. I pulled her closer to me, feeling the blood trickling down my back from my head injury.

'Well well, at least you two won't die alone' she paused and gave us an evil look as she said 'well actually it's a bit of a shame; I wanted to kill you in the most painful way possible.' She contemplated something as she added 'There was drowning, shooting, stabbing, but none of them were quite painful enough. So, I decided on another one, one I thought was quite clever of me'

She was chucking loads of bed sheets on the floor, scattering them around us in circle. I looked at her in confusion, and then glanced at Demi, wondering if she knew what was going on. She just gave me a blank look back.

I was thinking about running over and knocking that bitch (Macey's favourite word that seemed appropriate at this moment in time) out. However, I caught sight of a knife poking out of one of her jean pockets, a gun in the other, and I knew me and Demi were both too weak to fight.

Catherine then marched over to us grabbing me and pulling me to a nearby old wooden table and handcuffing one of my wrists to it, tightening it so it cut into my wrist until blood started to pour down my arm. 'We don't want any stupid escape moves from you now, do we Cameron?' she smiled obviously content with her work. She then walked away muttering 'I'll be back in a minute'

Demi crawled back towards me tears pouring down her face still as she cuddled in close to me.

'You need to get out of here.' I told her.

'No way' she replied. 'I've been in here a few hours now and I know that theres an exit to the outside of the mansion but it's guarded by The Circle and the other entrance we came in through can only be opened from the other direction.'

I nodded, unsure on what else we could do.

I wondered why I'd never noticed her before, why I never bothered to speak to the girls in the younger years. She'd probably heard plenty about me though; it was hard not to have rumours about you circulating the school when you're the target of an international terrorist organisation.

'How are you feeling?' she whispered to me, genuine concern in her eyes.

I nodded trying to concentrate on staying awake. I put my hand up to my head and felt a massive bump forming and grimaced as I felt more blood.

'No you're not' she said worriedly, her eyes searching mine as if trying to find the hidden answer.

'You're worse than me' I said, gesturing to her bloody face. 'Besides, I've been worse. Far worse'

'Tell me about it' she said. It wasn't a question, it was a command, and no one had ever asked me about it before, not even my friends. I guess they just didn't want to upset me by making me explain it. 'It will make you feel better' she laughed as she added 'and you look like you're about to fall asleep! So spill it.'

We ended up exchanging memories with each other, I spoke about the times I'd been so closely captured by the circle, her eyes staying wide open with shock. She told me about her parents, the way they abused her, the way she loved Gallagher because it was so far away from her other life.

We talked boys, we talked celebrities, and we talked about things we'd never told anybody else.

I finally felt like there was someone who understood me, I felt like I'd known her forever. I put the fact we were tied up and probably going to be killed later to the back of my mind, it wasn't like we were going to be able to escape unless someone found out we were in here, unless Zach realised where I had gone, that's if he'd even noticed yet.

I was laughing at a story Demi had just told me, apparently there's a secret passageway near the elevator to the sublevels that Mr Smith uses to contact his ex-girlfriend from Bulgaria.

My laughing was stopped short when Catherine walked back in, her face full of pure rage. 'I'm glad you two are having such a fun time in here, but I'm afraid that's about to end.'

'Why are you killing me?' I asked firmly, determined to get answers.

'Well Cameron, you haven't been aware of it but we've been _making_ you do something for us… find something that we quite badly need… let's just say when your mom gave you some water that she got from your back pack after you'd dived into the water and been rescued, it wasn't what had been in there in the first place. It was a type of poison that's meant to make the drinker do things they wouldn't normally do, like run away and find what I need, but it hasn't worked, and now it's too late.'

I was so confused, but I decided it didn't matter, Catherine almost killed me once and failed, she wouldn't lose again.

She kicked the bedding that she'd put on the floor into a circle around us, and I could have sworn my heart stopped beating as she pulled out a lighter.


	2. Chapter 2

ZACH POV

'Can't we go any faster?' I muttered my frustration clearly evident in my voice.

We'd gone round the whole mansion around five times with the twins swearing each corridor was the one with the passageway.

'I'm sure it's this one' Harriet muttered.

Liz who was at the front suddenly stopped, causing us all to crash into her, And when Liz stops mid-mission it means her exceptional brain has thought of something… well… exceptional!

'Oh my gosh.' Liz exclaimed suddenly fiddling with the watch on her wrist.

We all stared at her expectantly, waiting for her reason for stopping this life dependant mission, even Headmistress Morgan seemed exasperated, tapping her foot impatiently as Liz pressed buttons on her watch.

She suddenly realised everyone was waiting for her to explain, and so she said 'I totally forgot! I put a tracker on Cammie's watch; if she's got it turned on then I can…' She paused and carried on pressing buttons.

After a few more seconds she suddenly cried out 'Got it!'

She studied the watch carefully and then shook her head in what I'm guessing was shock. 'She's in the…' she frowned. 'Teacher's corridor…'

We didn't stop to question. We just ran.

I turned the corner, unsure what I was expecting as I heard Liz's watch let out a constant beep saying she should be here.

We turned the corner and saw… nothing. It was an empty corridor.

'I don't understand!' Liz was almost crying. 'She should be here, or at least the tracker should!'

I just walked down the corridor muttering to myself 'Gallagher Girl, please, please be okay'

Bex was just suggesting that maybe we should try the Common Room again but I wasn't listening. As a spy I was doing what I am trained to do naturally, I was using my senses, and right then my sense of smell was telling me something wasn't right.

'Smoke' I said pointedly. Everyone stared at me, testing the theory out themselves.

'He's right' headmistress Morgan stated.

Suddenly there was panic. We yelled for Cammie, we crawled on the floor. 'Where the hell is she' I yelled, close to actually crying.

I decided I needed to calm down; I leaned on the holder of the torch breathing deeply. As I leaned harder the torch just seemed to slip down and a door opened up. I let out a cry which had much less to do with the fact I had stumbled upon a secret passageway and more to do with the fact that a cloud of smoke collected in my face making me choke. I stood back my eyes watering.

Headmistress Morgan ran over to me and dragged me back. I could tell she was about to run in there.

'No!' Macey cried 'We don't even know she's in there'

We all stood there for a moment contemplating our options, and frankly there weren't many. Well that's what we thought, until we heard a cough, well it was more of a choke, and it sounded like the person who it belonged to wouldn't be able to stand it in there much longer. Hell, I was starting to feel dizzy just standing in the entrance. But at least it made my mind up.

I pushed past Liz who was crying, Bex who looked like she was about to storm in there, Macey who seemed to be paralysed, all the staff members and lastly Headmistress Morgan who looked like her world was about to end. But it wouldn't because I ran in, jumper over my face, ready to rescue Cammie, but nothing prepared me for what I saw.

CAMMIE POV

As she threw down the lit lighter on top of the material it felt like I was dead already. There was no way out of this, and I knew it, she knew it too as she gave me a wave and walked away, obviously to the outside entrance

I didn't know what to do. Sure, we were taught all the Capitals of the world, we were taught nearly all languages, but we weren't taught how to escape handcuffs and run through fire which had now spread all over the material, creating a ring of fire around us.

'Go.' I said to demi, already feeling the smoke invade my head, making me dizzy. 'You can get yourself out of here, you're not tied up, go!'

'I'm not leaving you' she croaked. 'You should be the one to get out, you have friends, a boyfriend, a family, and they need you.'

'I can't' I said indicating the chain. 'Something tells me the world can't lose two Gallagher Girls. Besides, you can go get help' I crossed my fingers, knowing I would be long dead by then.

Demi nodded, obviously hating having to leave me. But she scurried out, her injuries making her stagger. She found a gap in the material where the fire hadn't reached yet and jumped over, taking one last sorrowful look at me she ran away coughing.

I was alone.

ZACH POV

I was running covering my mouth, trying to breath in as little of the foul smoke as possible. Although I could barely see I could make out a shape in the distance. I almost let out a sigh of relief as the girl got closer. But she was too small. It must be Demi I decided as she got closer, her eyes widening with relief as she saw me. I stopped, unsure what to do. I couldn't let her run back by herself but Cammie needed me, and I knew which was more important. I was about to run past but the look on Demi's face stopped me, she looked like she was about to pass out and I couldn't just leave her here, especially as she seemed so badly injured, but it made my heart sink thinking how badly Cammie must be right now, especially as she wasn't here and I could tell Demi wasn't the type of girl to leave her without good reason.

I turned around unsure what to do and to my relief saw Bex running towards me, jumper over her face too. I pointed to Demi whose eyes were now closed; in fact I couldn't even see her breathing… I motioned to Bex to get her out while I went in to get Cammie. Bex hesitated, torn between this girl and her best friend who was still trapped in there, but luckily I saw her grab Demi and rush down the corridor.

I tuned back the other way, ready to carry on with my mission.

BEX POV

I was torn. If it was a choice between this girl and my best friend it obviously would have been my best friend, but me and Zach knew it wasn't that simple, when you're a spy it's never that simple. I knew Zach was thinking how bad Cammie's condition would be if Demi was as bad as this. But Cammie's strong; I knew she would hold on.

I tried to hold my breath as I removed the jumper from my face and held it over Demi's, hoping it would help. She tried to push it away, saying something that sounded like 'No… Cammie'. I ignored her and kept the jumper to her face. I bent down and felt my head spinning. Man, this smoke was toxic! I groaned as I picked up Demi in a bridal carry which me and Cammie had verified during a P&E lesson was the best way to carry someone. I couldn't see Demi's chest moving with a steady beat so I moved faster, running with her in my arms right back down to the end of the corridor. I could make out the shape of Liz who was standing in the frame of the secret passage, preventing the door from closing.

Black dots were clouding my vision and Liz's voice sounded a mile away as she called out to me. I saw Macey run up to me and take Demi's body, immediately putting her down in front of the staff that started doing CPR on her. I looked back down the corridor which was illuminated now with light, light from a fire. I turned my body preparing myself to go back in when I saw Rachel Morgan, rushing past me into the glow. I started to follow but my body slumped, I tried to call out to Rachel, to tell her it was too late, the fire must have spread all around the room by now and Zach had been gone for ages. But all that came out was a gasp of breath and I fell against the wall, just about able to make out the slim figure of Macey leaning down towards me, ready to pick me up. 'She's gone' I cried, then passed out.

CAMMIE'S POV

I was surrounded now, the glow hurt my eyes, and the smoke hurt my eyes so I decided it would be best to just shut them. I lay myself down in the corner and my head throbbed as it touched the hot floor. Time seemed to pass slowly and it seemed forever until I opened my eyes and saw the fire had gotten even closer. I quickly shut them again not wanting to see my death. I heard glass shatter and realised the blacked out window was now on the floor in a million pieces. My throat felt clamped together, as breathing became more and more difficult. I tried taking shallow breaths through my nose but it wasn't helping, all I felt was smoke engulfing my body, dragging me to death. When I opened my eyes again I couldn't see anything, just black, and I felt like I was drifting. That was until I felt a sudden singe of pain in my leg, I gritted my teeth and carried on trying to concentrate on my breathing, and staying alive in general. That was until I looked down and saw an absolutely gruesome sight. My leg was blackened; the fire had reached me and was actually burning my leg through the socks of my school uniform. I lifted my leg, moving it out of the fire, but pain like I had never felt engulfed me and I found myself gasping in agony before realising I could no longer breathe. But I was a Gallagher Girl and I found myself willing to hold on, letting air pass down my throat that felt like it was closed off. I knew my time was running out, I knew I couldn't hold on any longer, that even spies have a pain threshold. But as I let myself slip away I saw a black shape approaching me, my eyes were clouded over and I couldn't make out who it was, but it gave me just a little hope to hold onto as the darkness over took me.

ZACH'S POV

I could feel the warmth radiate through my body as I stepped into the room. The heat whipped at my face and I could hardly see through the seal of fire that blocked my way. Then my heart dropped as I saw a figure in the middle of it. 'Cammie' I whispered as I stumbled on the shards of glass that coated the floor. I pulled my jumper on, looking for a gap in the fire; I finally found one and felt the flames lick at my face as I darted through. I gasped as I saw Cammie on the floor. Her head was coated in blood that now formed a puddle on the floor around her, her blackened leg was singed and pulled up close to her, obviously causing her a lot of pain, but the scariest thing of all was her breathing. Even from here I could tell it was shallow and hoarse and I was betting if I had left her any longer she would be dead. The thought made me shudder. I got my watch with the burning laser beam and held it against the chains holding her in place, it broke away easily and her bleeding arm fell to rest on the floor above her head. She was so beautiful. I gently picked her up into a bridal carry, laying her head against my chest.

I stumbled forward through the even smaller gap in the fire holding her so tightly I was worried about crushing her! I felt my arm catch a flame and I winced and I looked down at my arm and saw the red raw skin. I pushed the thought out my mind and glanced down at Cammie wishing I could take the pain away from her. Her brow was creased and I could almost see the pain through her closed eyes. I had to get her out quick. I ran through the room hearing the glass crunching beneath my feet. Before I knew what was happening I had tripped, everything seemed to happen slowly as I fell onto the glass, letting go of Cammie as she fell out of my arms and onto the glass. Pain flowed through my body as I lay motionless on the floor except for the swift movement of my hand taking the glass out of my now bleeding arm. I finally mastered the courage to stand again just as I saw another figure bending over Cammie.

CAMMIE POV

I felt something pierce my skin as I landed against a hard surface. Through my foggy vision I saw a massive shard of glass sticking out of my thigh and I leant down ignoring the pain that I felt as I pulled it out of my skin, feeling more blood pour out. I was so close to screaming 'Just kill me now!' but when I tried to speak no sound came out except a rasping noise. I welcomed the blackness this time, it took away the pain.

ZACH POV

My breath caught in my throat as I ran over to her and the figure, to my relief I saw Cammie's Mom standing over her, tears leaking down her face. I tapped her on the shoulder, motioning to her that we had to get out now. She didn't even blink; she just stared at her daughter. I looked at Cammie, taking in every inch of her body, until I realised, her chest should be moving. 'NO' I cried as I bent down towards her. 'NO, NO, Cammie don't die on me! Don't you dare!' Her mom was sat there speechless, her tears for her daughter speaking a thousand words. 'No' I said. 'It's not over'

I grabbed Cammie back in my arms, sprinting down the corridor, her mother hot on my heels. As soon as we got to the entrance I was relieved to see half the medical staff had assembled in the corridor. They took one look at Cammie in my arms and ran over. I lay her down as they compressed her chest.

While they worked I managed to catch my breath again in the fresh air, the school had gone into CODE RED and the fire-fighters had been called. They ran into the room with hoses, but the only thing I cared about lay in front of me. Not breathing. Bex, Liz & Macey weren't looking, they couldn't. They were crying in the corner, Macey keeping them updated as she occasionally glanced over in Cam's direction. Her mom was the other side of her, her head buried by her hands, she was a mess. And I've never seen Headmistress Morgan a mess before.

A minute went by and the medical staff were still giving her CPR. And I was still losing hope. I was about to turn away, to hide my teary eyes and put back up my wall that could only ever get broken down by Cammie. But then I heard a sound come from her lips. A splutter. But it was also life. Everyone looked over as the medical staff stepped away to give her space. I heard them muttering.

'She won't make it through the night.'

'She will, she's just come back to life from severe smoke inhalation, this is Rachel Morgan's daughter we're talking about.'

'Well Demi had far less severe injuries and she's dead.'

'I told you, this is Cameron Morgan and she's going to survive.'

I allowed myself a sigh of relief as I took in Cammie's steady (or as steady as you can be when you're suffering from severe smoke inhalation) breathing.

CAMMIE POV

Pain. All I could think about was the pain. It felt like I had to scream out in agony but I couldn't. I felt the familiar feeling of my mom's hand in mine and it was all I needed to let me know that I was safe; they weren't going to let anything hurt me again. I allowed my eye lids to flutter open and the sight of Zach's eyes gave me the strength to give a small smile, before I fell into a deep sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

ZACH POV

'I'm telling you I saw her open her eyes and smile!' I demanded.

'Zach, she almost died, of course she didn't smile' Macey argued.

I sighed. I knew she had smiled, at me.

After a discussion with the medical staff everyone decided it would be best to move Cammie to the Gallagher Academy hospital wing. They brought in a stretcher and I watched the girl I love get carried away. I knew I would be there when she woke up.

RACHEL POV

I walked along side my beautiful daughter as she was carried on the stretcher to the hospital. It was like a nightmare.

I watched them dab at her head with a cloth and then give her stiches. They wrapped her wrist in bandages and anger filled my body as I imagined what Cammie must have been through when she was chained to the table. They wrapped her cuts from the glass and carefully slipped off the sock of her burnt leg and wrapped it in some special bandages and topped it with a cast.

Finally they examined her throat; I prepared myself for the worst as I remembered how the smoke had engulfed me in just five minutes of being there. I left them to it as I went to check on the others.

Bex had an oxygen mask on but the doctors insisted there was no permanent damage and that they would only keep her in overnight for observation. To be honest, I don't think she was too bothered, if Cammie was here I'm sure there would be no place else she would rather be. I saw tears form in Bex's eyes as she looked over at Cammie. I engulfed her in a hug. I felt her body shake as she tried to stop her sobbing. 'It's going to be okay Bex' I soothed.

All she could manage was a nod as they'd told her not to talk. Liz was absolutely fine but the doctors said they would like to keep her in just for safety.

I glanced over to Macey and smiled as she was having a shouting match with the doctor, demanding that they stop wasting their time on her and go and look after Cammie. She also made an excellent point that the oxygen mask would totally mess up her hair. It made me smile a small smile.

I finally turned my attention to Zach who was quite clearly fighting sleep as his eye lids flickered. He had a few cuts which had been bandaged up and was also sporting an oxygen mask.

'Zach' I said and he turned to look at me, his head dropped.

'Girls' I added. 'I don't want anyone thinking for a minute this is any of your faults, you were so brave trying to save her, and I know without you Cammie wouldn't be here right now.' I whispered the last bit; it was almost too horrible to say.

I walked over to Zach and sat beside him.

'I should've been quicker' He muttered.

'No' I stated. 'You shouldn't have gone it all, but thanks to you I still have my daughter.' I smiled at Zach.

They took over an hour to examine Cammie's throat and I was getting really worked up, we all were. We all wanted answers.

They finally came over to explain.

'We've put a tube down her throat for the moment.' Dr Stewart said. 'We think she's going to be fine but obviously we will monitor her closely.'

I let out a sigh of relief.

'However…' he added as I felt my heart drop.

'She will probably suffer with long term effects. The smoke inhalation was so severe we think it will be a few months before she'll be able to talk like she used too. She will probably suffer with asthma too and so we will provide you with an inhaler.'

I nodded, just happy that the long term damage wasn't too severe.

'We suggest you keep a good eye on her though Headmistress, she had a narrow escape, any longer in that room and she would have…' He didn't finish. He didn't need too.

'Of course I'll be keeping a good eye on her' I said. 'Thank you for your help Dr Stewart'

He nodded and walked away.

I walked over to my daughter. It broke my heart to see her lying in the bed, she looked so small and venerable and tubes and bandages seemed to swamp her making her look even smaller. I tucked in the covers around her. I heard footsteps behind me and Bex's hand crept into mine. I squeezed it and gave her a small smile.

BEX POV

I was finally able to ditch the oxygen mask and join my best friend. I walked over to the bed and saw Headmistress Morgan looking so down. I slipped my hand into hers and smiled sweetly, she returned it.

'I'm going to take good care of Cammie' I said, my voice a harsh whisper from the smoke inhalation.

'I'm taking the bed next to her and I'm going to wake up every hour to check on her and…'

'No' Headmistress Morgan turned towards me. 'You will not. You've already done far more than enough for Cameron and you need your rest right now.'

I just nodded, knowing that even if she'd yelled at me I still wouldn't listen to her instruction. Headmistress Morgan seemed to realise too and she let out a small laugh and stroked my hair. 'You're a good friend Rebecca' she said smiling. 'I'm going to bed; I'll be back in the morning. First thing.'

I nodded as she walked away.

We all changed into our Pj's and sat on my bed, next to Cammie. Even Zach who was meant to be sleeping in the room next door came and joined us.

'Today made me realise how much we need to look after Cammie from now on' I stated.

Everyone nodded their agreement. 'I'm going to create a new watch' Liz said. 'I'll make sure that it's got a more advanced tracker so that we know EXACTLY where she is at all times.'

'Agreed' said Macey. 'I'm planning on putting something in her make up that has some kind of bullet proof quality.'

'It's okay, at Blackthorne we have bullet proof vests, I'm sure I could persuade her to…' Zach started.

'No.'

The voice was so quiet, so timid I wondered if I had imagined it, but the look on everyone else's faces seemed to confirm I hadn't gone mad. We all glanced at Cammie's bed where her eye lids were fluttering.

'Oh my gosh!' I shrieked. I'm always the one to act first!

We all ran over to her bed and watched as she slowly woke up.

CAMMIE POV

I guess all the talk about me linked with bullet proof vests was all it took to wake me up. No way in hell would I wear one of those! I tried to speak, to say 'No' but it seemed to come out more as a groan, I even wondered if maybe they hadn't heard me. But they're spies, and spies hear everything. The sound of thundering feet confirmed this.

'Cammie! How are you?'

'Do you feel better?'

'Can you hear me?'

'Please speak!'

The voices merged into one as I struggled to distinguish them, but one rose out above the rest.

'Give her some space, she's only just woken up and quite frankly probably feeling like shit, she probably just wants to get used to being awake first before she speaks'

The voice made me smile and it was like Zach had seen right through me and read my mind.

'Oh my gosh she's smiling!' I heard Bex yell.

I drowned out their voices for a moment and like Zach said I tried to 'Get used to being awake'. My leg felt stiff but not too painful, it felt cushioned and it had obviously been well wrapped up. My cuts seemed to have all been bandaged up and I only felt a little light headed as I touched the bandages coating my head. The only thing hurting was my throat and as I touched it I felt a mass of swollen skin. A pipe seemed to reach right down through my throat and it made it so hard to speak but I finally managed to say 'Macey, back me up, a bullet proof vest is totally not my best look.'

'Okay, so maybe we could customise it with some accessories but you gotta admit Cam, it's a good idea!'

I shook my head, still smiling.

'So how are you feeling?' I felt Zach's hand slip into mine and his voice sounded so genuinely concerned that I had to lie.

'I feel fine'

He shook his head with a frown on his face. 'Don't you dare say that Cam' He gestured to all the beeping machines and wires that seemed to swamp me.

'Okay so, I'm not feeling my best, but honestly apart from a sore throat and a little soreness I feel good.'

Zach just nodded his head with a look on his face showing me he totally didn't believe me.

'How are all of you?' I asked worriedly.

'Not a scratch on us really' Bex said, her voice sounded hoarse and rough.

I raised my eyebrows sarcastically at the sound of her voice.

'Okay so maybe we aren't our best either, but we are nowhere near as bad as you Cam'. Bex's lip stuck out like it always does when she's arguing a point.

I nodded. 'Long term damage?' I asked.

'Well you'll have to have an inhaler for the rest of your life and you're going to sound like a frog for a couple of months, but apart from that nothing' Macey's clear voice rang out.

I nodded again, It could have been worse.

'I mean you almost…' Macey stopped suddenly as if she'd just been smacked in the face.

'I almost what…?' I said.

'Died.' Macey whispered, almost too afraid to say it as if it would make the words come true.

'Well I didn't, and I'm fine now' I stated, my voice confident.

Everyone nodded happily, smiling, except Zach. And then I wondered if Zach knew, if Zach knew that inside I was really crying.

Slowly everyone started to leave me alone as the doctors came and went, examining me what felt like every ten minutes and constantly questioning me when all I really wanted was to sleep.

'Does your head feel okay?'

'Do you feel dizzy?'

'Does it hurt?'

'Yes, yes, yes!' I replied starting to get annoyed. Of course I was hurting, what did they expect. They finally agreed I could go to sleep and told the girls to get to sleep and they had to drag Zach back to his room.

I finally got a little sleep, but when I woke up it was around two in the morning. I just lay in my bed thinking.

Where was Demi? Do The Circle know I'm alive? Is my mom okay? And of course, what happened? I thought back to the day when I'd attacked Dr Fibs and so many questions swamped my brain.

An hour later I was still awake when I heard footsteps. I looked over and saw Zach framed in the light of the window. He looked so amazing. He walked up to me. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to. He lay next to me, his arms around my waist, my head on his chest. It felt perfect. We lay in silence for about 30 minutes, just staring into each other's eyes. Until I finally broke the silence and voiced my questions to him.

At first he tried to avoid my questions, typical Zach. But after some whining and crying he finally told me.

I was shocked to hear about Demi. When Zach told me I broke down but he was totally there for me and although I felt so much guilt and sadness about it I'm happy that I'm being allowed to help plan her funeral, I'm going to make it so beautiful. Apparently The Circle think I'm dead. For the moment.

The next few days were some of the best, but also worst moments of my life. For many reasons.

My mom came to visit in the morning, hardly able to speak as tears poured down her face. Although then and again it may have something to do with the fact I couldn't speak either as they'd removed the tube and my throat was so sore. Everything I said seemed to come out as a croak and my mum ended up saying 'Sorry darling, what are you trying to say?' more than anything else. It kind of made me realise that maybe me and my mom weren't as close as I would have though…

Zach understood me. When my mom finally left he was straight back in and was next to me, lying on the bed. We hardly ever spoke, it was like we didn't need to, we just wanted each other there.

After a couple of days I started finally to get a little better, I still couldn't talk in anything more than a croak and I was still stuck in the boring hospital wing. Now that my mother had forced all my friends and Zach back into having lessons I was on my own most of the time. Bit ironic when you think how much I would have loved this feeling a few days ago, but now it just felt like I was totally alone.

After a week I was finally allowed to leave the hospital. I got out of bed, totally ready to finally get back to my school work; I could only imagine how much homework would be piled up on my bed when I got back to the dorm.

I pulled on my school blouse and put on my skirt whilst glancing in the mirror. I looked awful. I grabbed the bag of makeup that Macey had kindly left by the side of my bed and plastered on foundation over my pale face adding half a container of blusher, trying to get some colour back into my cheeks. I highlighted my eyes with the eyeliner and smiled. Everything about me seemed to have changed, except my eyes. It was good to finally see a part of me that wasn't totally messed up.

I glanced down my body, noticing the scratches and the bandage that covered my wrist. I grabbed the jumper off the bottom of my bed and threw it on. It hung off me and made me look like I was wearing a tent and as I cast my eyes to the window which showed a beautiful view of the sunny grounds I realised how out of place I would look. I sighed as I glanced down further to the burns on my leg, still covered with plasters. I reached down to the bed again and grabbed some thick black tights, pulling them on and crying out in pain as it brushed against the burns. I pulled them back off roughly, feeling them drag harshly against my skin and threw them to the floor. I limped over to the bed and sat on it, my head in my hands.

'Cammie?'

I stood up quickly, too ashamed of my appearance to meet Zach's eyes.

'Cammie, tell me what's up now.'

I wasn't digging for compliments as I replied 'Look at me Zach. How can I go out there like this?' I said gesturing to the burns on my leg, my pale face and finally the now baggy jumper that had been a perfect fit which was covering all my scars.

Zach just pulled me closer and reached for a makeup wipe on the bedside table, once again courtesy of Macey McHenry. He gently wiped my face, removing every last trace of makeup. He finished and gently tilted my head up towards him, kissing me gently on the lips. 'Now' he said 'you look beautiful and perfect.'

I shook my head as I looked into the full length mirror at the end of the bed again, seeing a girl who looked far too skinny and frail, a girl who seriously needed one of Macey McHenry's famous makeovers.

'Cammie look at me.' Zach said as he pulled me in towards him again. 'You're beautiful Cammie, don't ever forget it.'

I managed to give a small smile as my eyes looked into Zach's finally and I saw how much those words meant to him.

'Are you ready to go?' Zach asked

I nodded as I pulled the jumper further down my wrists.

'Wait' Zach said. 'It's boiling out there; you'll fry in a jumper!'

I took a deep breath as I lifted the jumper over my head, the scars and cuts standing out even more against my pale skin.

I felt Zach recoil in shock and I sat down and buried my face in my hands again.

'I can't go out like this Zach!' I cried.

'Hold on' Zach said 'I'll be right back.'

As he left I grabbed the tights again, ready to make an attempt at pulling them back on again.

I'd managed to get them halfway up my leg, my face a picture of someone who is in agony as Zach walked through the door, a cute three quarter length cardigan over his arm.

He ran over as soon as he saw me, yelling 'CAM, what the hell are you doing! You'll make it worse if you put them on!' he gently eased them off my leg slowly while I winced as it caught and pulled on the bandages. He finally got them off me.

'Look, I don't think you need to wear this, it's not even that bad, but here…' He handed me the black cardigan that was just long enough to cover up all the marks on my arm but thin enough that I wouldn't boil in it.

'It's Macey's' he said 'I asked her if you could borrow it, she said she wouldn't of even noticed if I'd taken it without asking her!' He let out a small laugh.

I smiled as I glanced back down at the mass of bandages covering my leg.

Zach noticed and said 'Cammie, trust me, you look fine.'

He pulled me up off the bed and put his arm tightly around my waist, supporting me as I limped to the door.

'Cammie, maybe you're not ready for this, I don't think your mom would let you out if she saw the state of the cuts on your body' He paused, obviously hurting as he remembered the memory.

'Zach, I'm tired of being stuck in this room like a prisoner, I need to get out of here.' I said.

He nodded, obviously still not happy, but he helped me down the corridor anyway.

As we walked my uneven footsteps echoed out as I limped down the hall. It was silent.

'Where is everyone?' I asked?

'At breakfast, we're a little late' Zach said.

We carried on walking until we got to the corner and we heard sobbing. We both looked at each other in wonder and turned the corner.

On the floor crying her eyes out was Hannah, I remembered her as Demi's best friend. Tears pricked at my eyes as I remembered the short time I'd known her.

I motioned Zach to carry on without me.

'I'll be round the corner waiting for you' he whispered in my ear.

I rolled my eyes, but smiled slightly, I was lucky to have someone that cared as much as Zach.

As Zach turned the corner I limped over to Hannah and sat next to her on the floor, she looked up at me and gave me a sweet smile, tears still leaking down her face.

She leant over and hugged me, I just stared at her in shock, what was it with the junior year and hugging? I was totally not a hugging kind of girl. However, I hugged her back, realising I didn't know what it was like to lose a friend, and hopefully I never would.

'It was my fault' she whispered.

I just stared at her in shock for a few seconds. How could it be anyone's fault but mine? 'What?' I asked. 'It's my fault of course'.

It was her turn to stare blankly at me.

'What are you talking about?' she asked. 'How is it YOUR fault?'

'She could have got out sooner, I was in pain because of my head but if I'd fought Catherine she could have had a chance, she wouldn't be dead'.

Hannah violently shook her head. 'No way' she argued. 'If you hadn't been there Demi would have died alone, she wouldn't have stood a chance, she would have stayed with you and died sooner if you hadn't told her to go and get help. No, it's totally my fault, we couldn't remember where the passageway was, if we'd have found it earlier then we could have got to you sooner'.

'You know what, I don't think Demi would want us to be having this conversation, she wouldn't want anyone to take the blame.' I smiled as I remembered something. 'She told me lots about you; she really did think you were a great friend.'

'She really said that?' Hannah said, her face lighting up.

'Of course, and it was obvious she thought you were a great friend!'

Hannah smiled up at me as she wiped the tears from her face.

'I'm glad it was you with her Cammie, and I'm glad you're helping with her funeral.' Hannah said.

I nodded, a lump in my throat that had nothing to do with my recent injuries.

Hannah gave me a final hug before standing up and walking away. 'Thanks Cammie, see you around.'

I smiled back, still sat on the floor thinking, dreading the funeral.

I stood up, ready to plaster the fake smile on my face. I turned the corner and took Zach's hand, ready to face breakfast in the Grand Hall.

I stood outside with Zach, listening to the loud noises of my sisters chatting away happily.

'Ready?' Zach asked, his arm now tightly around my waist again.

I nodded, totally not ready.

I stepped through the door, wishing I really was invisible.

The room turned silent instantly, like the volume had been turned right down. I couldn't hear one noise and as I looked around I saw the stares of hundreds of girls. A lump formed again in my throat as I took a step inside and made my way to the table. I glanced up at the teachers who were also staring, I saw my mom looking on worriedly, obviously unsure how I was going to handle all the attention. I'd never felt less invisible in my life. As I limped over to the table, the room was still silent and it was only Zach's hand on my back that prevented me from turning and running away. I felt heads turn my way as I passed but I tried to keep my eyes from crying, my body from collapsing on the floor and most of all myself from running. As I reached the table Macey was the first to talk to me. 'Nice cardigan Cam' she winked, obviously oblivious to what I was using it for. Bex's smile beamed out to me from behind Macey and Liz's studious and cautious face studied me like she thought I was going to pass out any minute.

I quickly sat myself at the table, grateful for when the chatter finally started up again, except I couldn't help noticing most of it was about me.

'I think It was great that she tried to help Demi' I heard a junior on the table next to me say.

'Do you think that limp she's putting on is for the attention?' I heard another one ask.

'How come she's allowed to wear that cardigan? That's not uniform!' I heard one obstinate voice say.

'Her mom's probably covering for her'

'If she couldn't handle being a spy she shouldn't have come here'

It was all I could do to at least try to engage in the conversation taking place on my own table.

'So Cammie, what do you think?' I heard Macey ask.

'Huh?' I asked, tuning myself back into the conversation.

'About the new Twilight movie' Liz asked, casting a worried expression over me.

'Oh… Urm… Er…' I replied trying to remember, I was pretty sure it had been awful, but I couldn't remember anything other than that.

'Do you think it's Cameron's fault Demi's dead?' I heard a girl to the far left of me say.

'I can't do this.' I said, as I stood up and ran out as fast as is possible when you've got your leg wrapped up in bandages.

I heard the whole silence replay over again as girls hushed up as they saw me running down the aisle.

I heard cries of people calling me back as I ran but I carried on, preying they wouldn't follow me.

I felt a hand touch my shoulder, Zach's hand but I shrugged it off. I couldn't look at him right now.

'Gallagher Girl…' he started, but the name brought tears to my eyes, I'd never felt less like a Gallagher Girl in my life, I'd practically killed one of my sisters.

'Zach' I heard Macey say. 'Cammie needs some time alone, let's go back to breakfast.'

'Is that what you want Cammie?' I heard Zach ask.

I didn't reply. I heard his and Macey's footsteps fade away.

I couldn't bring myself to go in any secret passageways like I usually would, too many memories. So I went to my dorm to collect my stuff for class, knowing that was one thing I couldn't avoid, even if Culture Class was the last thing I wanted to do right now.

I got to the dorm, feeling grateful for the silence as I closed the door behind me. I found my books neatly laid out on my bed thanks to Liz. I also noticed a pile almost as tall as me of homework. I decided to ignore that pile. I put all my books into my bag and walked to the bathroom, brushing my hair through and tying it up into a high ponytail. I allowed myself to add a little foundation to my face and some of Macey's amazing bronzer.

I repositioned my cardigan, checking it was covering all of my cuts.

I took a deep breath as I heard the door open. I walked out of the bathroom to face the music.

'Cammie!' I heard Liz shout, as she ran over and embraced me in a tight hug. I winced as my body was crushed under her weight.

'Oopsie Daisy!' I heard her say as she let go of me. I smiled at her, it was impossible to feel down when Liz was around!

'Cammie' I heard Bex say 'You need to tell us what's wrong…'

I nodded, knowing that if my best friends couldn't fix it then no one could. 'I guess I'm just upset about Demi, I just heard people saying stuff in the hall that just kinda got to me…'

Macey spoke. 'Well you don't need to worry about that anymore Cam, Dr Fibs told them off!'

'What?' I asked, remembering what I had done to him in the hallway the other day, but then I also remembered the pill Zach had given him and realised that he most likely didn't know.

'It's true' Liz's voice rang out. 'He stood at the front of the hall and told everyone that one Gallagher Girl was already gone and we should be thankful it wasn't two.'

'Wow' I said, trying to imagine the timid Dr Fib's saying that.

'I know right' said Bex, loving the drama a bit too much if you ask me.

'Well, I don't feel like a Gallagher Girl now' I said.

My friends all let out cries of protests. It made me feel a little better.

'I know what you need' said Macey, her face serious.

I looked at her in confusion.

'A make-over!' they all cried.

I sighed; wishing that the hour until class started would turn into five minutes. Still, I guessed it might make me feel a little better.

'Right' Macey said, going all serious as usual when makeup's involved.

Macey carefully applied some foundation to my pale and pasty face. She had a little moan about how I'd wasted some of her bronzer but as she got more involved in my makeup she seemed to forget about it. I actually enjoyed it, not that I would ever let Macey know that. But it was nice to finally feel like I was doing something normal again, and have a girly talk with my best friends.

'So…' Bex started 'You and Zach? How's it going with him?'

'Okay…' I replied thoughtfully. 'I think he might be a bit pissed off about me walking off earlier'

'Oh, he'll get over that' Macey, the boy expert stated.

She finally finished my makeup.

'Hmm, not my best work but what more can you do when you have less than an hour to work? Anyway it's a definite improvement Cam, you look more like you now!' Macey said.

I looked into the mirror holding my breath.

'Wow' I said in awe as I looked in the mirror. I still saw a girl with a leg covered in bandages and in clothes that hung off her suggesting that she was a junior who had to grow into her uniform, but she also had makeup done by Macey McHenry that made her look more… alive.

'That's great, thanks Macey!' I cried.

'No problem' she smiled.

'We should be getting to class now' Liz's worried voice called out.

'Oh wait, first Cam you need to change into this.'

She threw me one of her skirts and a blouse, obviously made with some of the best fabric money can buy.

'What's this for?' I asked, fingering the smooth fabric.

'Just look at that uniform' Macey stated gesturing to me. 'It's hanging off of you!'

'Oh…' I replied.

It wasn't that I wasn't thankful, I really was, because how many people can say they've worn a Macey McHenry skirt, let alone been able to fit into one. But I knew that it meant getting changed, and getting changed in here meant my friends seeing just how bad my injuries were and that meant a lot of unnecessary fuss. It had been hard enough to get into my uniform this morning without dying of pain; I didn't want to have to go through it again.

I sighed as I laid the uniform down carefully and turned my back to my friends, bracing myself for the gasps.

I changed in record time, wiping my tearing eyes as I pulled on the uniform over my cuts and bruises, and then topping it off with the trusty cardigan.

'Much better' I heard Macey say, but I could defiantly hear a shake in her voice.

I turned around and saw them all staring at me, eyes wide, mouths open in shock.

'Cammie, you should be in the hospital' I heard Liz state.

'Cammie, come with me, you need to show your mother this…'

'No' I said, too quickly. 'I don't want to worry her, besides the doctors let me out, so that means I'm fine'.

'But they didn't see this' Bex argued.

Macey was the only one who didn't moan at me, but then I remembered a time not so long ago when she had been the one in this condition with cuts covering her body, and I had kept it a secret for her.

'If she says she's fine then she's fine' Macey simply said.

'Well okay, but you need to let us know if it hurts Cam' Liz said.

'Of course' I lied 'It doesn't hurt'.

They nodded and we walked out to go to Culture Class, Liz holding my arm as I limped out the door. What did I do to deserve such great friends?

When we got there I realised I'd much rather endure another makeover than sit with Tina and endure questions about whether I'd really had to backflip over a wall to get out of the room.

The class got off to a pretty boring start. Madame Dabney welcomed me back but she was proper stressed about the Gallagher Academy trustee's visiting us or something.

'Now I know they probably won't be here until later as they're observing Covert Operations this morning but we still need to be on top form just encase.'

'Girls, is my scarf correctly positioned?'

'No Tina! Do not drop that tea cup, it's my favourite one!'

I sighed and checked my internal clock. 45 minutes left. I yawned.

'Cameron dear, please can you remove that cardigan, it's not school uniform and we can't get the Gallagher Trustee's angry about ANYTHING' Madame Dabney shouted across the table, which was really bad manners, but I didn't say so.

My heart dropped. 'Urm, what was that you just said Madame Dabney?' I croaked, trying to get a little sympathy by adding a dash more of harshness to my voice than was necessary.

'Your cardigan dear, please remove it' she said louder as if having a sore throat had affected my hearing.

Everyone was staring at me now. I had to take it off. I took a deep breath as I dropped the cardigan down my arms and shrugged it off.

I looked down unable to meet anyone's eyes as I felt their stares.

'Oh my…' Tina started to say.

'GIRLS, we don't have much time, carry on setting the table please' Madame Dabney instructed, clearly trying to distract everyone.

It didn't work. I still felt everyone's eyes looking at me, Zach looked like he was going to throw something, I couldn't stand it so I did the thing I'd promised I wouldn't do. I ran.

Dropping my head I pushed everyone out the way ignoring the gasps from my class mates and the cries of 'Cammie!' from my friends.

'Let's just get back to setting the table, I'll go get her mother' I heard Madame Dabney's voice fade into the distance as I walked further and further away, breaking into a sprint as I heard her mention my mom.

I didn't know where to go, passing all of my favourite passageways was like torture, but as I passed I couldn't help but visualise Catherine in every one. I found myself stopping in front of the Gallagher Academy Tapestry and before I knew what I was doing I was stepping through the door. It felt good as I stood in the silence of the passageway; I knew I couldn't stay here. It would be the first place they would look, so I found myself carrying on down the corridor, finally feeling the fresh air whip at my face, I didn't think I'd ever felt so good before in my life.

Before I knew what I was doing I found myself limping into Roseville, treasuring the fact that it wasn't busy, not realising and seeing the kids around that were my age.

People were looking at me, at first I found myself wondering why, then I remembered my uniform, and my cover. I was a spy after all; I would never stop being one. So when I found myself thinking 'Private school girl on a trip into town to get some…'

'Excuse me dear' I heard an old woman's voice carry across the silence.

I turned around to face her.

'Are you okay?' she asked, her face showing genuine concern.

I frowned at her for a moment, what was she talking about? That was until I caught sight of myself in the shop window opposite, I gasped as I saw the scratches covering my arms and caught sight of the cardigan that wasn't on me, but that I was carrying in my arms instead. Realisation dawned on me as I thought back to all the strange stares I had got earlier.

'Yes, fine' I lied. 'Just tripped and fell in a bush' I laughed a clearly fake laugh and mentally kicked myself for forgetting all of Mr Solomon's teaching on telling good lies.

I ran off leaving the poor woman staring after me. I ran into the first shop I saw not even looking at the sign and preyed there was a bathroom I could use to put my cardigan back on properly.

As soon as I got in the shop I felt my heart sink. 'No, please no' I thought as I saw the back of a boy, the pristine quality of the boy's hair that could only belong to one person. Josh.

He turned at the sound of the bell. He didn't pause and stare like everyone else had. He ran straight over with his phone in his hand looking like he was ready to dial 911.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So I won't be updating for at least a week as I'm away, so I thought I'd treat everyone to a nice long chapter! Plenty more to come after this so make sure you follow!**

**Also I just want to say your reviews are AMAZING, I read every single one and it makes me feel great that people are taking the time to read this!**

'CAMMIE, oh my god, what's happened? How injured are you? Don't worry I'm calling the ambulance now' He rushed, not even stopping for breath.

'NO JOSH' I shouted, grabbing the phone out of his hand.

'I'm fine, I tripped, honestly!'

I forgot it was Josh, my ex-boyfriend Josh, the only boy who'd ever been able to see me, really see me.

'Cammie, what can I do?' he asked, his eyes full of guilt.

'Nothing Josh, I was just coming to find a bathroom actually' I stated pushing past him and into the bathroom in the corner of the shop.

I felt josh's eyes bore into the back of me as I walked.

As soon as I got in there I fell on the floor putting my hands over my head, my head in-between my knees. I let silent sobs wrack through my body as my head throbbed, my leg ached and my whole body hurt. I allowed myself a minute before I carefully stood up and pulled on the cardigan, checking it was covering my cuts. I took a deep breath, bracing myself with excuses before stepping outside.

'Urm thanks for letting me use the bathroom, I've got to go back to school now though' I said, keeping my voice as steady as if I were taking a lie detector test.

Josh nodded but I could see so many unanswered questions swimming in his eyes, but he seemed to remember the last time he'd asked me questions. And the lies I'd replied with. That's probably why he decided to stay quiet.

'Well, I'll see you around' I said trying to keep the limp out of my walk but failing miserably.

'Wait; let me walk you home, I can get my dad to cover my shift for me'

No, I couldn't possibly ask you to do that' I said as I edged towards the door, ready for a quick escape, but before I knew what he was doing Josh had taken my arm and was helping me down the street, a broad smile on his face. Almost like the Josh I used to know.

'You didn't have to do this' I muttered as Josh lead me through the busy street. I had a headache coming on and quite frankly I wasn't in the mood for all the stares we were getting from the people that josh obviously went to school with.

'No it's fine' Josh reassured me 'It's kinda nice getting away from the pharmacy anyway'.

'So how's DeeDee?' I asked, quite proud of myself for being a good ex-girlfriend.

'Urm, we broke up…' Josh said awkwardly.

'Oh' I replied just as awkwardly.

We walked the rest of the way in silence until we came to the Gallagher Gates.

'Well, thanks a lot Josh' I said taking a step towards the gates.

'No problem' he replied. 'Do you want me to walk you in?'

'Oh, no, defiantly not' I replied backing away a little more.

Before I knew what was happening he was suddenly next to me, well I guess it was more on top of me as I felt his lips crush into mine. It felt so, so wrong.

I pushed him off, shoving him hard in the chest.

'What the hell do you think you're doing Josh!' I yelled, before realising maybe yelling wasn't quite the best way to handle it.

Before he could answer I saw a figure emerge from behind me and punch Josh square in the jaw.

'ZACH!' I yelled as I ran over and helped up Josh who had a now bleeding lip. Josh staggered backwards before turning on his heel and running.

'What the hell did you do that for?' I screamed at Zach, not caring how loud I was being.

Zach didn't answer; he simply took me by the wrist and pulled me towards the secret passageway entrance. His hand was holding onto my wrist so hard that it hurt, it was the wrist I'd been tied up with. 'Zach' I whispered timidly. 'Zach, let me go, you're hurting me'. Sadly I remembered what had happened the last time Zach had let go of my hand, he seemed to realise too as he kept my hand in a firm grip as I tried to ignore the pain shooting down my arm.

I had no idea where he was taking me, I had only been gone an hour so I didn't see why anyone would have missed me. I had thought getting out of here for a while would help, but it didn't, everything had just got a hundred times worse, and I knew Zach was mad, really mad.

'You know, I thought I'd never be more worried than I was that night of the fire, but I was wrong. When you disappeared again today I thought you'd gone' He said angrily, still pulling me along roughly. I'd never seen him so angry before.

'I… I…' I stuttered 'I needed to get out of here for a while, I thought I'd be back before anyone noticed where I was, I mean now The Circle thinks I'm dead…'

'CAM' Zach yelled at me. 'The Circle have found out you're alive!'

'Oh' was all I could say as Zach continued to drag me through the silent corridors until we reached my mother's office.

I didn't need to go in there to tell what a bad mood she was in, I could hear raised voices coming from the room giving me an even worse headache but we didn't stop to listen as Zach literally threw me through the open door.

The conversation ended abruptly as everyone turned to stare at me. There must have been about 10 people squashed into my mother's office including my friends and some teachers, all of them staring daggers at me.

'Can everyone please leave for a moment I need a moment alone, with Cameron' I winced at the use of my full name as everyone else pushed past me making their way out of the door, their heads bent in shame. Zach gave me a last look before releasing his death grip on my wrist, however when he withdrew his hand it was covered in blood. He stared at it a minute before looking back at my wrist which had blood leaking through the bandages. I hid it behind my back quickly as if hoping that would erase it from his memory. 'I'm so sorry' he whispered, shaking his head in shame as he walked out the door.

'Sit' my mom said still not even looking at me as she stared out the window.

Hiding my bleeding arm behind my back I took a seat on the sofa, I'm usually a sloucher in my mom's office, but today I felt more like a Gallagher Girl who was about to get her head kicked in, so I sat straight, my headache pounding.

'Where were you?' My mom asked, cutting straight to the point.

'Roseville mam' I replied straight away, I knew lying wouldn't get me out of this one.

I made up a story about just sitting in the park for a while before Zach found me and brought me back. She brought it, nodding her head as I explained.

'You have no idea what you put me through' she whispered, her voice cracking.

'I'm sorry' I said my voice cracking too.

'I know it's hard darling' my mom said, actually sounding like my mom now. 'But we'll get through it kiddo'

I smiled a small smile, thinking that she didn't know the half of it.

'…Which is why I decided…' She started 'to call in Aunt Abby. She's going to be watching you from now on and guarding you, and also you will no longer be attending lessons.'

I just sat there speechless.

'It's for the best kiddo' my mom said as she came over to hug me, but stopped short as she examined me.

'What?' I asked.

'Cammie, what's happened to your hand?' she groaned, lifting my hand out in front of me that now had so much blood you could no longer see the bandages. It made me feel light headed. 'Why didn't you tell me Cam?' she asked sadly as she grabbed a cloth from her desk and wrapped it around my hand before gently helping me up and leading me to the hospital wing. Again.

We were both silent as we walked there. We were both silent as they stopped the blood flow and re-bandaged my hand. We were both silent as we walked in separate directions, her to her office, me to my room.

I didn't want to go back, to face the hostile stares I would get from my best friends, but I knew I had to.

As I walked in the room was silent apart from Macey topping up her already perfect makeup, Bex doing Yoga and Liz preparing for next lesson. I sighed quietly to myself; it was going to be a long day. Usually I would have explained and apologised, but I felt like a different person as I sat on my bed and pretended to read.

I heard them finally leave; they walked to the door and without so much as a backward glance walked through it, Bex slamming it hard behind her, making the pounding in my head worse. I was alone.

I thought about the lesson I should be having right now, P&E. I could almost imagine the screams of joy as Bex wrestled Tina to the ground. I suddenly let out a cry of pain as I felt a sudden pulsing pain from my head. I gritted my teeth as I brought my hand to my head and began massaging my temple, tears in my eyes. I finally felt the pain subside a little and let out a sigh of relief.

Bex, Liz and Macey always usually came back to our room before dinner to drop off their stuff, but today was an exception as dinner time rolled around and there was still no sign of them. I couldn't face walking into the Grand Hall by myself so I just sat on my bed, still holding my book and still on the same page I had been on 4 hours ago.

I decided it was no use. I couldn't read this damn book. I put it down and quickly changed into my pj's leaving Macey's uniform neatly folded on her bed. I shut my eyes and before I knew it I was asleep.

BEX POV

I had never needed a shower so much in my entire life, arm wrestles with Macey are harder than you would think. 'Argh, I groaned to Macey, I need a shower before dinner but I can't go in there with Cam there, it's too awkward'

'Same' Macey agreed, she usually didn't get involved in this kind of thing but I could tell she was still really upset about Cam walking off and going into town without us.

Tina bound up to us happily 'You can come in and use our shower now if you'd like, None of my roommates did P&E today because they had minor injuries so it's free if you want it'

Me and Macey looked at each other sharing a look of annoyance that Tina had been listening into our conversation but regardless we thanked Tina and said we would use her shower.

We walked down the hall on our way to dinner, fast paced because Tina had been following us asking if it was true Cammie knocked out Mrs Dabney earlier. I mean, she had been there for god's sake!

We finally reached the hall and I thought about the excuses we'd have to make up to Cam about where we were before dinner, but she wasn't there. I saw Headmistress Morgan watch us as we took our seats in the hall, obviously wondering why Cammie wasn't with us. Zach came and sat down with us and I knew it was only a matter of time before he started asking questions. A stab of guilt took over me as I wondered if she was okay, but it was her fault, and she could have always come to us.

We tucked in to the dinner, but none of us really felt much like eating.

'Where's Cammie?' I heard Zach ask the predictable question.

'Not sure' Macey replied 'In her room I guess'

'Maybe I should go and check on her?' Liz questioned.

'No!' We all said.

'She needs to realise that she can't keep going off without us, we're meant to be her best friends. And half boyfriend' I added.

Zach just rolled his eyes but he seemed really restless, almost like he was hiding something, or like he was guilty, but there's always something Zach Goode's not telling us.'

We finished our dinner and we all decided we should go check on Cammie, I was starting to feel a bit guilty about the way we had ignored her and I knew the others were feeling the same.

We pushed our way through the junior class who always blocked the hallways up and finally reached our suite.

I pushed open the door, but the room was empty.

I heard everyone groan as we walked further into the room and saw still no sign of Cammie.

'Maybe she's in the bathroom?' Zach asked.

I walked in there and gasped. There, lying on the floor was Cammie.

We shouted at her, we poked her, but she wouldn't wake up.

'She's just in a deep sleep' Liz said relieved as she checked Cammie's pulse.

We all moved back as Zach gently lifted her and lay her gently on her bed, tucking the covers around her, when he thought we weren't looking I saw him kiss her forehead sweetly.

Zach finally left and we all got ready for bed, voicing out our concerns about why Cammie had been laying on the floor!

When we finally got into bed, ready to sleep I couldn't help but think that something was wrong with Cammie. There were things she wasn't telling us and I had a feeling it was serious.

We over slept the next morning.

'SHIT' I yelled out as I woke up, stretching in my bed, realising we were late for breakfast!

Cammie had always been the one to wake us up but she now lay fast asleep and I remembered she didn't even have lessons anymore and her Aunt probably wouldn't tell her off for being late.

I threw my pillow straight in Macey's face and she woke with a start. 'MACEY GET YOUR ASS UP, WE OVERSLEPT!' I cried as I pulled on my uniform before running into the bathroom.

'Crap!' I heard Macey yell as she leapt out of bed, jumping on top of Liz who was still sound asleep.

'Liz' I whispered in Liz's ear. 'Pop Quiz'

I smiled as I saw Liz's eyes shoot open.

We were finally ready and with no time for breakfast were about to run to Cove Ops before bumping straight into Headmistress Morgan.

'Oh, sorry Mam' I said, about to walk off before she stopped me.

'Is Cammie in there? Is she okay? She was meant to be meeting me and Aunt Abby in my office half an hour ago and I haven't seen her in the grand hall for two days, is she eating?'

I suddenly noticed how thin and frail Headmistress Morgan was and I felt guilt about not being able to answer any of her questions.

'Urm, I think she's just tired, she's still sleeping' I answered shiftily, unable to look her in the eyes.

'Oh okay, well I better let her sleep then, I'll come and check on her later' Headmistress Morgan replied walking off.

I sighed, deciding that I would talk to Cammie later and bracing myself for a long Cove Ops lesson.

CAMMIE POV

I rubbed my head as I began to wake up. Ouch, I still had that damn headache. 'CRAP' I yelled as I realised the time and grabbed my uniform, pulling it on roughly. I was in the middle of dressing when the door opened. I pulled on my blouse quickly, hoping whoever had just opened the door wouldn't see.

'Cammie?' I heard my mom's voice in the doorway.

I sighed as I pulled on my cardigan, slower now I'd realised she'd already seen.

'My baby' I heard my mother's footsteps coming closer before she pulled me into a hug. I felt her roll up the sleeve of my cardigan and take in my injuries, gasping. I winced as the fabric brushed against my cuts.

'I'm so sorry, I didn't realise' I heard my mom cry.

RACHEL POV

My darling daughter. I couldn't help but cry as I took in her bruised and cut skin, how could I not have realised, she must have been in so much pain, I was tempted to pull her to the hospital wing again but I realised there was nothing they could do and it was obvious Cammie didn't want that.

'Can I just go to class now?' I heard Cammie say as she pushed herself out of my arms.

We didn't say anything as we walked the empty corridors and into my office where Aunt Abby was sitting waiting.

I noticed Cammie pulling down the sleeves of the cardigan quickly and it made me sad to know she couldn't even talk to her own family about this.

I'd always wondered if being a spy would be the best thing for Cammie, it had been a tough decision but I'd always stood by it. Now I wasn't so sure if I'd been right to put my own daughter through this and before I knew what I was doing I had turned to Cammie and was saying 'Cammie, I don't want you to be a spy anymore'

I saw Cammie's frown deepen as she processed what I was saying 'there's so many jobs you could do, you're so clever Cam, you could do anything, I'm just not ready to lose you, we don't have to tell anyone as far as they're concerned you could still be training as a spy with Aunt Abby, no one would know' I could feel myself getting carried away and before I could finish Cammie was out the door.

I heard Aunt Abby call out after her but with one swift moment she was away and Aunt Abby was left standing next to me by the door.

'Why did you say that to her Rach? You know you could never stop her being a spy' Abby said to me.

'I know' I whispered, as I walked out of the room. I had to find my daughter.

CAMMIE POV

I was running, again. I didn't even know where I was going so when I found myself on the way to Cove Ops where the rest of my class were I didn't question why. As I walked to the door I heard Mr Solomon's voice boom out. His name had now been cleared and he'd only gone back to teaching today because he was still pretty weak after the explosion. As I walked in the room no one noticed at first, they were all busy working on something with their backs turned to me, they didn't even notice me walk in, but Mr Solomon did, and before I could say anything he'd ushered me back out the door.

'What are you doing here Cammie, you're meant to be having lessons with Abby now' He asked in confusion.

'Oh, she said I should come and join in this lessons for a moment, she's busy.' I lied.

Mr Solomon didn't look convinced but he beckoned me back in the room anyway and found me a seat at the back of the class.

I didn't know why this was the place I'd chosen to come to, maybe I had just felt like getting a taste of normal life.

My friends weren't as gullible as Mr Solomon. 'Why are you here?' I heard a concerned Bex say, which was nice considering she hadn't spoken to me for a day.

'I just felt like coming here' I said, staring down at the desk.

Mr Solomon started a lecture, and it actually felt good, listening to his voice made me remember years gone by. My happy memories however were stopped short as I felt a sudden pain in my head, so strong it made me groan out load. Everyone turned to look at me as I put my head in my hands on top of the table, my brow creased as I felt the strong stabbing pain near my temple. I stood up suddenly, I needed to get out of here, and it felt like the walls were closing in on me. I took deep breathes ready to dart through the door but with one last cry of pain I found myself falling to the floor, Mr Solomon's strong arms catching me before I fell hard onto the floor and blacked out.

BEX POV:

I knew something was wrong when Cammie came into this class, I was guessing an argument with her mother. I also noticed she looked kinda… ill. She kept groaning and putting her hand on her head and then before I knew what was happening I saw her getting up about to leave before she collapsed on the floor, Mr Solomon swiftly catching her in his arms.

'Get her mother!' I heard Mr Solomon's voice yell out and I saw Tina run off.

'What's wrong with her sir?' I asked as Mr Solomon busied himself trying to wake Cammie up by putting some of Liz's famous smelling salts under her nose. She stayed lying on the floor.

'No idea' I heard him say.

I walked closer ignoring Mr Solomon's moaning about giving Cammie space. I froze. 'She's bleeding out her ear!' I cried.

'Oh god' I heard Mr Solomon mutter 'Macey, run and get the doctor!'

I saw Macey run off just as Headmistress Morgan and Aunt Abby ran in. Her mom let out a loud sob as she saw her daughter lying on the floor, blood gushing out her ear.

The doctor finally got in and they carried Cam away carefully, us all following behind in silence apart from the occasional sob from her mother.

We saw them inject things in to Cammie and watched as they connected tubes and machines to her. After what felt like hours the doctor came over to explain. 'Well, we know why Cammie has been acting so strange, we think she was poisoned, but a long time ago, the poison should've just gone out of her system but it doesn't look like she's been eating so it remained in her blood stream, we've given her injections which will get it out of her system, she'll be just fine as long as she maintains a healthy diet, but you do realise she's lost a significant amount of weight, has she been eating?'

I looked down as I muttered 'I'm not sure'. How did I become such a bad friend.

'I'm gunna make sure I help her from now on' I said determinedly.

Headmistress Morgan nodded her agreement along with everyone else. We needed to be there for Cammie even if she didn't want us.

Days passed and there was still no sign of Cammie waking up. Zach was literally attached to her, he never left her side and the rest of us visited whenever we could. We just needed our best friend back.

CAMMIE POV

I stretched out, flexing my muscles as I found myself waking up, I opened my eyes, shutting them again when I saw the bright light.

I groaned and sat up rubbing my head. It felt so great to be waking up without a headache like usual. I felt someone beside me and turned to see Zach fast asleep next to me. I smiled and lay back down putting my head on his chest. I felt him wake up, and pull me in closer to him, wrapping his arms around me.

'I'm sorry' I whispered

'It's not your fault you were poisoned, you can tell me everything, when you're ready' Zach said bluntly, pulling me in even closer.

I felt so happy, maybe I hadn't blown it with the sweetest boy ever. I suddenly felt a wave of sickness 'I'm gunna be sick' I stated to Zach who quickly passed me the bucket by the bed, he gently rubbed my back as I felt myself wretch but nothing came out. I held my head as the doctor came over 'You need to eat' he said.

I did not feel like eating right then so I just shook my head chucking the bucket back down by the bed. I saw the doctor walking away, probably going to get food so I quickly lay down and closed my eyes feeling Zach's arm wrap around me. I made my breathing even and steady as I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep as I heard the doctor come back with someone else who I later realised as my mom.

'We need to get some food down her, she's reaching an unhealthy weight'

'Should we wake her?'

I heard them asking, I decided I should eat, just to make my mom happy so I coincidently 'Woke up' and the doctor offered me some dinner. I managed a few mouthfuls before pushing the tray away. I noticed my mom's worried glance but she didn't say anything, I think she was just happy I'd eaten something.

Now that I was my complete self again I found myself able to fix things up with my best friends, and I finally knew I had to tell them everything, so I did, and it felt like a massive weight had been lifted from my chest. I was finally allowed back to the dorm again but not until I'd eaten my whole weight in food! I felt healthier, stronger and happier as I walked with Aunt Abby to Cove Ops. My mom had finally decided that she could never stop me from being a spy and she let me back into lessons with everyone else providing Aunt Abby chaperoned me. I had explained everything five times over and it seemed like everything was going back to normal, that's until my mom cautiously approached me saying 'Hannah couldn't decide on the flowers for Demi's funeral, she wondered if you could meet up with her later to discuss it?'

I watched as my friends gave me worried glances, probably worried that I was going to break down but I just calmly replied 'Of course' and carried on my way to P&E (To watch only of course, I still wasn't in any state to practise with Bex!)

Demi's funeral was really nice, the whole school was there and I said a little speech, not really my thing but I felt like it was the right thing to do, I know Demi would have liked it.

Life seemed to go back to normal after that, each day the same as the last, not that I'm complaining, after everything I had gone through it was nice to be living a normal-ish life!

But I should've known it wouldn't last.

After months went by I felt stronger, I even managed to tackle Bex to the floor in P&E. My cuts and bruises were still healing and I still had bandages engulfing my leg but after the funeral and my speech I think a lot of the school respected me a lot more and I found myself able to walk the corridors freely without stares and whispers, despite the cuts still being vibrant against my pale skin, sometimes I was even allowed to walk around without Aunt Abby. I had put The Circle to the back of my mind thanks to my best friends who literally never let me leave their sights, whether it was a makeover or a movie night they were always there to distract me before I let my mind wonder too much astray to people like Catherine, who were still out there. I knew it was just a matter of time, and I was right.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews they mean so much! **

**Sorry it's been a while since I updated but I got back from my holiday today so updates will be regular from now on. While I was away I also sketched out a few more story ideas so be sure to follow me! They will be similar to this btw, in terms of a little Zammie but not too much, Cammie getting injured (I like that happening because it creates Zammie!) and stuff along those lines. Running out of ideas for this story though and I'm kind of worried it's getting similar to other stories which I didn't want to happen because I thought the beginning was quite original and I don't want to ruin it. So maybe one last long chapter after this one will finish it off nicely. Enjoy!**

It was a Sunday night as our whole class sat in the common room watching the big TV. 'I knew that this Twilight movie was awful' I laughed as the door opened and before I had time to blink a crowd of people dressed head to toe in black ran in and I heard a familiar voice scream 'Come with us Cammie and no one gets hurt!'

I looked around me and saw all my fellow sisters in the arms of big tall men, their arms behind their backs. 'No!' cried Bex who earned herself a punch in the head from her attacker. I gasped as I saw Bex slump in his arms. I couldn't let this happen again and as I waked across the room towards Catherine I knew it wouldn't.

'NOW' I shouted as I jumped on Catherine and felt all the Gallagher Girls do the same to their attackers. I got Catherine down to the floor and caught sight of the knife sticking out of her pocket. 'Do it Cammie!' I heard Zach yell across the room to me, but the distraction of his voice cost me pain as I felt something puncture my stomach. I gasped in shock before pulling the knife out of my stomach, no one else seemed to have noticed Catherine stab me and as I felt my vision go blurry and heard Catherine's laugh she grabbed me by the hand about to drag me away. 'NO' I yelled shocking her as I reached for the knife and struck it right into her heart. I could see the surprise register on her face, followed by anger and finally a blank expression before she crumbled to the floor, dead.

I stood there shivering for a few minutes, putting my hand to my stomach and feeling sick as I felt the blood. I looked down and noticed it hadn't soaked through my jumper visibly yet so I forced myself to stay focused as I ran back into the midst of the fight sighing in relief as my mom ran in with almost all the staff. 'Are you okay kiddo?' I heard her yell in between fighting off a big beefy guy and the theory 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall' could totally have been invented by her. 'I'm fine' I lied through clenched teeth and glanced across the room and to my horror saw Liz lying on the floor unconscious while a large man stood with a gun over her, pointing it straight at her head. Before he had a chance to even blink I was across the room and the gun was now being held by me, aiming it at his heart. He ran, and I saw him make a hasty exit through the door. Most of The Circle had now fled the room and the rest were lying around us dead, showing the true strength of the Gallagher Academy. I could vaguely hear people in the background but my hearing had gone fuzzy and my vision was blurred. It didn't stop me seeing Zach running over to me, the biggest smile on his face I've ever seen 'You did it Cammie! She's gone! She's gone forever!' and as I felt Zach's lips touch mine I knew getting stabbed and possibly dying had been worth it. I looked down at my stomach and still saw hardly any trace of blood so I went over to my mother who was leaning over Liz.

'Cammie I'm so glad you're okay' she whispered

All I could do was smile feeling myself starting to sway as I walked back to Zach, falling into his arms.

RACHEL POV

Liz looked in pretty bad shape as Joe took her arm and led her along to the Hospital Wing with Bex who had a bleeding head supporting herself with his other arm. I turned the other way about to go towards Cammie who stood in Zach's arms but saw Macey, her hand covered in blood from a massive cut. 'Macey come with me to the hospital'. Macey seemed hesitant but finally followed me out of the room. It was a nice feeling knowing Cammie was okay for a change, I couldn't wait to see her and tell her how proud I was of her.

ZACH POV

'No, no, no' I muttered as I gently lifted Cammie's top up over her stomach and saw the large red slash in her skin. I quickly grabbed my jumper and held it tightly against her stomach. I finally got up and looked round the room about to call out for Cammie's mom but she had gone, everyone seemed to have left the room and I found myself on my own. I knew I had to get Cammie out of here, she'd lost a lot of blood but I couldn't remove the pressure from her wound. To my relief I saw a happy Abigail Morgan walk through the door, her face falling as she saw Cammie.

Abby ran over and instructed me to carry Cammie while she held the jumper against the wound. I carried Cammie gently in my arms and in to the hospital before I felt Abby pull me back.

'No, Zach, Rachel can't see Cammie like this.' Abby insisted pulling me towards the boys section of the hospital wing where Grant was sat shirtless, a smug look on his face as a female doctor bandaged up a cut on his arm, I really didn't see how a cut on his arm had led to him getting his shirt off but I didn't have time to think about it. As I walked in Grant raised his eyebrows as if to say 'this is the BOYS section' but stopped when he saw blood pouring out of Cammie.

'Oh SHIT' he said running over, causing the female doctor to tut at his choice of words as she too came over and took Cammie out of my arms.

'She should be in the female section the other side' she said as she laid Cammie on a bed and rolled up her shirt. I looked away awkwardly noticing Grant do the same. I heard Abby explaining as the doctor continued 'All these cuts on her look months old, and they don't look like they've been treated'. I shifted uncomfortably as I remembered Cammie flying out of my arms and onto the glass.

'Right, boys out!' she instructed as I saw her applying more pressure to the gash in Cammie's skin. Me and Grant let out loud cries of protest as we were forced out of the room by Abby. I heard Grant moan saying 'That was supposed to be the BOYS section' and then I allowed myself to laugh as I heard him say 'Oh crap, I left my shirt in there!' and as we wondered back to our room I couldn't help but go into hysterics as I realised it was lesson change over and the corridors became packed full of girls whispering and giggling at the half clothed Grant. However when we got back to the room my concern for Cammie filled my head again.

ABBY POV

I watched them try to stop the blood that seemed to be cascading out of Cammie. I saw them hook her up to a drip. It was heart-breaking to watch so when they finally declared Cammie in a stable condition I wondered up to her room to get her Pj's wondering how I was going to explain all of this to everyone, the answer seemed simple to me, I wouldn't. As I walked back to the hospital I passed the open door where I heard the doctor say that Bex had to stay in overnight, she was moaning that Cammie hadn't come to see her yet. I saw them usher Liz into a bed too along with Macey. I sighed as I carried on down the corridor and gave the hospital staff Cammie's Pj's. I sat next to the bed holding Cam's hand. I didn't allow myself to think about the amount of times she'd been here. The doctors forced me out the door after a few hours, saying Cammie was stable and she just needed to rest. I told them obstinately that she'd been sleeping for hours now and shouldn't they check she was okay. They demanded I come back in the morning and check then so I did as I was told and as I left the room I bumped right into Rachel Morgan, who was coming out of the girl's door. 'Where have you been?!' she questioned angrily.

'Just checking on the boys' I replied calmly 'They're all fine, how are the girls?'

Rachel seemed to relax and said 'Liz isn't looking too good, she's not really the fighting type but she should be out in a few days, Bex and Macey are fine, they'll be out tomorrow, I think they're all a little annoyed Cammie didn't come to check on them. I'm quite disappointed in her, her friends have been through a lot for her and I would've thought she'd come to check on her friends. So where is she anyway?'

I diverted my eyes to the floor thinking of Cammie in the hospital bed and reminding myself to wake up early tomorrow and get her out of the hospital in time for breakfast to look like nothing was wrong. 'Oh she was so tired, I sent her to go to sleep' I saw Rachel suddenly change her expression to one of concern and hastily added 'Oh she's fine though, I just think we should leave her to sleep, she's been through a lot'

'You're right' Rachel agreed as she headed off to bed and I turned the other way thinking tomorrow was going to be a hard day.

I managed to haul myself out of bed at four in the morning the next morning and rushed to the hospital. I walked into the room and saw to my relief that all the nurses had gone.

I walked over to Cammie's bed and felt guilt seep through me as I tried to wake her up. It took a whole five minutes before I saw her weakly open her eyes. 'This is not going to work' I thought as I explained to Cammie why I was getting her up. She seemed much more awake when she realised she had to do this for her mom's sake. I helped her up and saw her clutch at her stomach in pain. 'I'm such a bad person' I thought as I saw Cammie stagger into the bathroom and throw up.

CAMMIE POV

I groaned as I felt the light burn my eyes and as I moved I felt pain shoot down my side. I let out a cry of pain but felt myself relax as Aunt Abby's face came into focus and she explained to me I had to get up so my mom wouldn't notice. This is for your mom I thought as Aunt Abby helped me out of the bed and I felt such a strong pain in my stomach I had to hold my stomach to try to stem the pain. 'Oh my god' I thought as I ran to the bathroom and threw up. I glanced at myself in the mirror and felt myself hurl again. I looked so pale, like all the life had been sucked out of me, my lips were chapped and my eyes looked dead. I left the bathroom feeling literally like shit. I let Aunt Abby lead me up to my room before I told her I was fine now. 'Okay squirt, I'll come get you in half an hour' she said. 'We have to go visit the girls in the hospital too before breakfast' I groaned but nodded. They were going to be so mad. As I dressed I saw my stomach in the mirror. A massive bandage covered the whole front of my stomach. I peeled it back slightly, needing to inspect the damage but felt myself gag as I saw a little blood trickle out. I quickly replaced the bandage and awkwardly dressed myself. It was worse than having the cuts. Every time I so much as twitched a shooting pain would feel like fire down my side. It took me about fifteen minutes before I was in my uniform and I sighed as I saw it hanging off my frail frame again, promising myself I would eat the whole buffet at breakfast. I didn't bother with any foundation to cover my pale face; I knew it would make me look worse so I tried just a little concealer under my eyes to stop myself looking so dead. I frowned at my reflection in the mirror before swearing out loud as I thought of P&E later. It would probably kill me. I wondered how much more my body could take and promised myself I would take it easy for a while and give myself a chance to properly recover.

I heard a knock on the door and staggered over to open it. 'Ready?' Aunt Abby asked.

'How do I look?' I asked. I groaned as I saw Aunt Abby hesitate.

'To be honest you don't look great Cam, you look like you haven't slept for five years and you look so…' She shuddered. 'Pale'

'Dead' I corrected her.

She hugged me. 'It will be okay squirt; we'll just say you didn't sleep well'

We walked down the corridor, me struggling to keep up, trying to walk straight and ignore the burning pain in my side.

As we walked into the hospital I saw Macey, Bex were already up and heard them gasp. 'I really look that bad do I?' I tried laughing it off.

'What the hell Cam, I thought you were okay?' Bex asked angrily.

'I just didn't sleep well, it's not fun being on your own all night' I tried my fake laugh again.

'I'm sorry I didn't come and see you, like you can see I was just tired' I said quickly trying to change the subject.

'Don't worry' I was relieved to see Bex and Macey smile.

Bex came over to hug me and I felt the pain cascade through my body as I tensed up. I saw Bex frown as she let go. 'Sorry, I'm still sore from the fire' I said. Bex nodded but I still saw her look concerned as she probably remembered how well I'd been doing in P&E recently.

'So how's Liz' I asked trying to change the subject and glancing worriedly over at the other bed where Liz lay sleeping.

'They think she's okay, she's so small and venerable though I think she took a hit to the head harder any of us would' Macey replied.

'So shall we go to breakfast?' Macey asked. 'I'm starving!'

'Okay' I agreed quietly, feeling my stomach churn at the thought of breakfast.

As I walked out the room trying to stop my eyes watering with the pain I heard Macey ask 'Why are you walking funny?'

'My legs been hurting recently' I replied crossing my fingers.

'Maybe you should get it checked out at the hospital?' Bex asked

'Already have' I lied 'They said it was normal to feel pain when it starts to heal'

We got into breakfast and I saw Zach run over to me as Bex and Macey went to sit down leaving me alone to talk to Zach. 'What the hell are you doing here?'

'I don't want to worry anyone' I replied coldly.

'Well you'll worry _me_ if you don't get back to that hospital right now, I mean Jesus Cam you've been stabbed.'

'I'll be fine' I said as I carried on walking over to the table and out of the corner of my eye I saw Zach storm out of the hall.

I sighed as I carefully sat myself down. 'What was that about?' Macey asked.

'Just Zach being Zach' I replied.

I didn't eat a thing. It all made me feel sick. Luckily I managed to hide it craftily and no one noticed. At the end of Breakfast I saw my mom walk over to our table just as we were about to leave. 'Go on without me' I said. 'My mom probably wants to talk to me; I'll meet you at the P&E barn.'

Everyone left as my mom came over and I groaned inwardly as I saw her worried expression.

'I saw you hiding that food Cam' she said, getting straight to the point, but as her daughter I saw the tears in her eyes. 'I just wasn't hungry mom' I replied about to walk away. 'Well tonight I'm cooking dinner for the both of us, I have a surprise for you!' she smiled and walked away before I had a chance to tell her it was a Monday. I walked onto P&E more concerned about getting thrown around than the surprise my mom had planned for me.

'Come on Cam' I heard our P&E teacher yell. 'Put some more strength into that death grip!'

I tried, I really tried but as I felt Bex's body land on top of me, directly on my injured stomach it was all I could do to refrain from screaming out in pain. Bex was immediately up and throwing me over her shoulder watching me land painfully on my stomach on the mat. I was so out of breath I just lay there for a second trying to stop myself for screaming, crying or yelling. I carefully picked myself up just as the teacher told us our time was up and to go get changed and have a shower. I was just starting to walk away, staggering behind the already gone class before I felt someone grab at my arm and pull me around. 'What is it Macey?' I asked as I took in her grim face. She just stared at my stomach. I gasped as I too looked and saw the blood seeping through my white top. I tried covering it with my hand, hoping it would make her forget about it but she simply grabbed me pulling me through the corridors as I held my bag against my stomach, hiding it from view.

As we walked into our room I heard the shower and realised Bex must be in there. Macey watched me as I rolled up my top examining the damage I'd done. I stripped off the bloody bandages and replaced them with ones Aunt Abby had given me. I grabbed a handful of tissues trying to stop the blood from flowing. Macey still stood there speechless as I chucked my bloody t-shirt in the washing pile and put back on my uniform shirt just as Bex came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. 'Show her' Macey said. I shook my head, tears in my eyes as Macey lifted my top up over my stomach revealing the bandages that already had blood seeping through.

Bex and Macey just sat speechless as I tried to explain, to make them understand about my mom not being able to handle it, about my Aunt forbidding me to tell anyone, about not wanting anyone to worry.

I was still explaining as I felt Bex engulf me gently in a hug whispering in my ear 'I understand' as Macey came over too, joining in our little group hug.

'Please don't tell anyone' I begged.

'Okay, but as long as you don't let me tackle you in P&E anymore' I heard Bex laugh.

I smiled before remembering I had to go to dinner with my mom and my face fell.

'What is it?' asked Bex worriedly.

'I've got dinner with my mom tonight' I replied.

'Don't tell her' Bex quickly said. 'It would ruin her; you have to pretend that you're okay'

I nodded, knowing it already, all the pain was worth it if it meant my mom was happy.

I went in to my bathroom lifting my top over my stomach again seeing that the bandages were almost soaked through already. I knew I shouldn't even be out the hospital. I replaced the bandages yet again, wincing as it pulled on my skin. I walked out the door sighing as the roaring pain in my side took hold of me, ready to put on a happy face for my mom.

After a long meal of trying to force burnt chicken nuggets into my stomach my mom finally revealed the 'surprise'.

I could feel my mom's excitement radiating off of her as she said 'The CIA have contacted me and said they no longer think there is a risk to you, which means you're now allowed to walk around without supervision and you will be allowed into the grounds'

I smiled, it defiantly was good news.

'Also' my mom continued, still smiling 'We're taking the whole of your class on a school trip, including the boys who will be extending the exchange to come with us'

'So it's like a cove ops mission?' I asked, confused.

'No' my mom replied 'think of it more like a holiday! It will be great Cam, we're going to be going to a private island with top security and it will be just like a normal holiday in the sun! Picture it now Cam, bikinis, beaches, sunglasses!'

'but… but… I don't have a bikini or any sunglasses and…'

'Oh Cammie don't worry about that I've brought you a few extra things. All the staff thought it would be a good idea to have this holiday; you've all worked so hard this year, we're going to make it a regular thing for each year group once a year'

'When do we leave?' I asked, preying it was weeks away, months even.

'Tomorrow!'

As soon as I got back to the room Bex ran up to me crying 'Abby just came in, she said we have to go to the Common Room, apparently it's important!'

I smiled at Bex's enthusiasm as we made our way to the Common Room.

After the announcement it's fair to say our whole class was in a state of excitement, panic and absolute chaos as the shouting started.

'Who's taken my waxing strips?!' Tina cried.

'Does my bikini make me look fat?' I heard Anna yell.

I sighed as I remembered a similar situation not too long ago when we had prepared for a Cove Ops trip, and as I sat on my bed next to my small suitcase with only about five things packed in it I couldn't help but dread this holiday. Me and Zach still weren't speaking. I was going to have to wear a swimming costume. But it all felt one hundred times worse when my mom walked in with the hugest pile of clothes I've ever seen. She simply dropped them on the bed and whispered in my ear 'I'm so proud of you'. I couldn't help but think about how un-proud of me she was going to be when she saw me and my massive stab wound in the frilly, highly revealing bikini that she'd laid on my bed. Of course my friends (including Liz who'd been released from hospital) crowded around the clothes picking them up, even Macey was impressed which was saying something! I would've been impressed, but they so weren't me and as I took out my baggy shorts from the bag and replaced them with the jean short shorts my mom had given me I couldn't help but think it was going to be a long week.

Okay so I have to admit as we boarded the jet I was getting SLIGHTLY excited, I supposed this was what it was like for people that go to normal schools, only they don't go by CIA approved private jets. However the panic hit me as I saw we had to climb a ladder to get up. 'It's fine' Bex whispered to me 'Just get on last and no one will see' So as I coincidently waited until everyone had got on I battled through the pain as I climbed the ladder, having to pause a few times to catch my breath and hold my side as I felt the banging pain in my stomach. That was until I heard someone clear their throat loudly behind me that made me almost fall headfirst off the ladder.

'Is there a problem Ms Morgan?' I heard Mr Solomon ask sarcastically. 'You seem to be going very slowly'

'Just savouring the moment' I replied, trying to sound jokey as I gritted my teeth through the pain as I climbed faster trying to escape Mr Solomon.

I managed to sleep on the plane, waking up to the bright sun that was streaming through the window and even I couldn't hide my excitement as me and my friends chatted about the holiday that lay ahead.

We were staying in the hotel, luckily in rooms of four, the boy's rooms on the floor below, the teacher's private suites on the floor above.

As soon as we were in the room Macey, Bex and Liz had made a record breaking change into their bikini's, towels in their hands, laughing until they saw me in the corner, changing the bandages again.

'We don't have to go in the pool y'know, we can stay with you at the side of the pool'

'No way' I told Macey as I put on the least revealing shorts I could find, which turned out to be VERY revealing and put on a tight fit t-shirt. 'You still look hot though' Bex stated.

I smiled as we walked out the door seeing everyone else in front of us running ahead, all the girls in their tight fitting bikinis. As we got down by the pool I noticed the boys already in their trunks, pushing each other into the pool. I swear I actually saw Tina drool as she took in Zach and Grant's toned bodies. I heard a splash as Bex bombed into the pool and I could have sworn I saw Grant look twice at her perfectly toned body and as she surfaced I couldn't help but wonder 'Was that hair flick really necessary?'

I watched as the others did various jumps into the pool, some of them calling to me to get in. I just shook my head, a fake smile plastered on my face as I lay on the sun lounger. As a girl, I wouldn't have minded some secret corner of the eye checking out from Zach, especially since I'd gone to the trouble of wearing these awfully revealing shorts, but Zach seemed to completely blank me, in fact he seemed to be looking everywhere but at me as I saw him carry Bex on his shoulders across the pool. I closed my eyes hoping that my pale skin would soak up some of the sun until I heard footsteps and saw Mr Solomon come down to the pool, in his swimming trunks. I'm pretty sure the entire class of girls watched him with bated breath and mouths wide open as he gracefully dived into the pool. He wasn't alone and to my horror I saw my mom walk down the steps literally looking like a goddess. Her hair was styled into natural curls that swayed in the wind making her look like she'd just stepped out of a Hair Care commercial. I couldn't even begin to describe her figure, all I can say it was perfect and it was the boys turn to stare and gape. I felt sick as I watched her gracefully glide into the pool, all of the boys swimming near her and to my horror I watched as Mr Solomon took her hand and helped her down the steps and into the water. I saw them splashing around each other, an action that I couldn't possibly describe as anything other than flirting. I closed my eyes again, feeling myself drift.

When I woke up I realised it had been an hour and I noticed my mom walk over to me. After I fed her about a million excuses as to why I wouldn't put on the bikini and join everyone in the water including 'I felt like I was getting burnt' she finally left me alone.

It felt like hours (and probably was) until Bex, Liz and Macey got out the pool and came to join me

'Cammie, we've got a plan' I heard Bex whisper.

'We're going to get some alcohol and have a PROPER holiday!' I heard Macey say in excitement.

'But… I've never drank alcohol before' I whispered back.

'Me neither' said Liz frowning.

'Oh my gosh' I heard an exasperated Macey say. 'We'll just get vodka Cam, it's like zero percentage!'

Sadly I didn't see the look of glee that Bex and Macey the 'experienced' drinkers passed between each other.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Didn't get many reviews on that last chapter so I hope it wasn't too bad… but thanks to those who did review! Like I said before I do read every single one.**

**So when I did the last chapter I had serious writers block and said this would be the last chapter… BUT, it won't be. I have thought of some new ideas so I'll be able to carry on with this story.**

**This chapter was so hard to think of especially as I thought the story was getting similar to others I'd read, but all that's changed now, I THINK this chapter is much more unique and I know I'm biased but I do really like this chapter, and to the reviewer who wanted Zammie… here you go!**

**Enjoy!**

Macey had the alcohol in a heartbeat, everyone on this island seemed to either be desperate for money or desperate for a girl like Macey McHenry to notice them.

I stared at the three bottles of vodka that had seemed to be increasingly growing in the corner. I contemplated emptying it down the toilet, or hiding it, but my friends were spies and it wouldn't take a genius to work out who'd done it.

We'd been on the island a whole day already, only six days left to go I thought bitterly.

'Tonight's the night for the party' I heard Macey whisper to Bex excitedly over breakfast. My heart sank.

'Today ladies and gentlemen we'll be hiking around the island' Mr Solomon announced to us and I could tell he was far more excited than he was letting on, more excited than myself who could hardly go up the stairs without getting out of breath. I noticed Zach shoot me a look that said 'serves you right for not getting help'.

We went back to the rooms to get ready, putting on hiking boots as Liz calculated exactly how much water we would need. We met everyone downstairs; we looked like a complete laughing stock, especially as Macey had forced me into a tight top with shorts that barely covered my ass.

'I do NOT feel appropriately dressed' I hissed at Macey who stood happily in her combats.

She smiled innocently at me and glanced at Bex who may as well of gone out in her bikini. She was wearing a crop top and her shorts were smaller than mine! However Bex could pull it off, I could not.

'Zach's looking' Macey grinned at me subtly. I risked a glance, his eyes were travelling up and down my body but as soon as he caught me looking I saw him blush and look away. I actually saw Zachary Goode blush.

We began the walk fairly slow, most of the girls complaining that it was too hot and saying we should just go back to the pool, I found myself struggling to keep up after five minutes but Liz stayed at the back with me as she was trying to collect samples. Zach was in front of me talking to Grant. About half an hour had passed and the rest of the group were just a blob in the distance except Liz who was still beside me and Zach who seemed to be dawdling with Grant in front.

After another five minutes the group were practically out of sight and I saw Zach drop back and walk backwards towards us. Liz raised her eyebrows and said 'Yes Zach?'

'You walk on with Grant and catch up the others, I'll wait here with Cammie, she needs a break, I know the way anyway' Zach said.

I could see Liz about to protest but then she looked at my flushed pink face and my hand clutched to my side and agreed. I watched her walk off into the distance with Grant.

I sat down carefully on the grass, Zach trying to take my arm to help me.

'I'm perfectly capable of sitting down Zach' I said grumpily. I let out a cry of pain as I crouched down.

'You sure about that?' Zach smirked as he helped me sit.

'Thanks' I muttered.

'No problem Gallagher Girl' I winced at the use of the nickname he hadn't used for weeks.

'You shouldn't be here' Zach said, his face becoming serious. 'You should be in hospital'

'I'm fine Zach' I sighed. 'Why does everyone need to treat me as if I'm going to just keel over any minute?'

'Because we care' Zach murmured, his face losing its anger for a moment. I felt him shuffle closer and put his hand around my waist. I contemplated shrugging him off but eventually found myself putting my head on his shoulder and leaning into him.

'You look so weak' Zach whispered. 'I hate seeing you like this'

'I hate seeing myself like this too' I admitted.

Zach rummaged around for something in his backpack and got out his emergency chocolate. 'Here have this' he said passing it to me.

'No, it's yours, you might need it' I replied.

He laughed. 'Do I really look like I need it?' he said smugly, knowing there wasn't a drop of sweat on him and his heart rate was probably what it would have been if he'd been sitting down all day. 'You however…' He started, holding up my hand to show that I was actually shaking.

'Fine' I said sulkily. I hated being the weak one all the time, but it didn't look like I had much choice. I took half the chocolate bar and said I wouldn't eat it unless Zach ate the other half. He did but he wasn't happy about it.

'Why were you angry?' I asked, shocked that I'd actually dared to ask.

Zach seemed to hesitate before saying 'Your too brave Cammie… and stupid. I hate the way you act like your fine, the way you acted fine when you'd just been stabbed, you don't always need to be the strong one Cammie'

I'd never thought about it like that before. I'd never thought that Zach's anger could actually be concern. I didn't realise that pretending everything was okay would hurt him more than getting help. I didn't know that I'd been acting strong when I was so weak.

'I did it for my mom' I whispered.

'I know' Zach sighed hugging me in closer.

'We better go' I said struggling to stand.

'You're right' Zach confirmed. 'They're probably getting worried about us'

Zach started to help me up and just I was about to refuse I saw him give me a look that said 'remember the conversation we had five seconds ago' so I let him haul me up.

We walked on for over half an hour, Zach's hand in mine until he said 'Urm, Cammie, do you know where we're going?'

'What?' I said in alarm. I had no idea. 'I thought you were leading the way!'

'Well, I think we're lost' Zach said angrily as if he couldn't bear to admit it.

I looked up at the sky, it was getting dark, and even worse it looked like it was going to pour down with rain.

'I've seen that plant before' I stated. 'We passed it five minutes ago'

'Me too' Zach grumbled. 'I wish we'd brought the night vision goggles I can hardly see'

'And an umbrella' I said as I felt rain hit my face.

'Here' Zach said, pulling me towards a beach with a cave jutting out of it.

The cave was on the edge of the beach, just above sea level.

Zach helped me climb over the rocks and get in. I struggled to pull Zach up as his shirt ripped against the rocks as his broad shoulders scraped the insides of the cave. We both breathed a sigh of relief as I finally pulled him through the small gap. Our eyes started to grow accustomed to the dark and it just looked like an endless cave. We crouched down in the cave; I shuddered as the cold stone floor touched my bare skin. Zach noticed and couldn't help smirking as he said 'Someone should of put on more clothes' he paused for a minute before saying 'Not that I mind of course, you look amazing'

I couldn't help but give a small smile before shivering again. The rain was pounding against the cave now.

'How long do you think it will go on for?' I asked.

'I would say about half an hour' Zach replied looking up at the sky.

Maybe it was because the sound of the rain or maybe it was because at that exact moment Zach chose to look intensely into my eyes but neither of us noticed rocks begin to fall over the entrance.

It wasn't until about ten seconds later when we broke the trance that Zach suddenly leapt up and yelled out causing me to look over. The entrance was already half blocked. He pulled me up and we dashed towards the exit stopping short and gasping as we came to the edge of the cave. The rain was so strong it drenched us as soon as we were in the open. The tide had come in and the cave was now miles away from the sand on the beach, we were practically in the middle of the sea. We stood there shivering in the opening, the cold wind whipped harshly at our face as the rain continued to pelt down.

Sometimes spies have feelings, we act on instinct and luck and right then I knew we had to move. 'Zach!' I yelled as I took a large step back pulling him by the hand quickly, just as a large boulder slammed down where we had been less than half a second before.

We stood and watched as the rock slide continued to rain down and fill up the cave with large stones.

We were out of options, it was either stay in the cave and wait or risk getting hit by rocks and dive into the sea. We knew the one that gave us most chance of survival and we retreated further into the shadows of the cave as rocks piled in and filled up the gap leaving us surrounded by rock.

'It's okay' I whispered, not believing the words but trying hard to persuade Zach I was right. 'They'll find us, there are gaps in the rock so we have oxygen, and they'll find us I know they will'

Zach seemed to be thinking hard before he sunk down to the floor. 'You're right' he sighed.

'Let's look at what we have' I said, immediately getting in to 'Spy mode'

'Right' Zach agreed as he shrugged off his backpack.

He had half a bag (Thanks to Grant) of Salt and Vinegar crisps (The one flavour I can't stand) and half a bottle of water. He sighed as he said 'The one time we need our spy gear the most and we didn't bring it!'

I sighed too as I brought out a water bottle with about a tenth of water left inside. Liz hadn't included the chance of being stuck in a cave overnight in her calculations. I cursed myself for not bringing the wristwatch that Liz could have used to track me.

'So that's all we have' ranted Zach 'Great, just great'

'It will be fine, they'll find us!' I said trying to calm not only him but myself.

'No it won't Cam!' Zach shouted. 'We're stuck in a cave in the middle of a sea!'

I sat silently watching him as he kicked the rocks in frustration. I tried not to cry.

'I'm sorry' Zach said after a while. 'We will get out, you're right it will be fine, we just have to look after each other'

I smiled and nodded at him, looking braver than I felt.

He laughed 'I'm a strongly built guy who's getting more scared than a girl who's lived through severe smoke inhalation and getting stabbed!'

I shivered at the memories but smiled. Zach Goode was scared, and he was admitting it, it felt like I was finally starting to see the real Zach again.

He too seemed to recoil at the memories of what he'd just said and he came to sit next to me on the floor.

'Cam, you're freezing!' He said wrapping his arms around me. 'Lay on the floor, I'll lay down next to you, we need to share body heat'

I agreed remembering the one important lesson Madam Dabney had ever given us about hyperthermia.

I lay down on the floor and Zach lay down next to me, wrapping his arms around me tightly pulling me in close. I felt his warm breath on my face. He pulled back my wet hair that was messily covering my forehead; the motion reminded me of my mom. I tried not to think about her because it was too painful knowing what she was going through right now. My body that had been uncontrollably shivering seemed to relax as Zach's heat compressed into my body.

'You know, you'd warm up quicker if you took your clothes off' Zach said cockily and I playfully slapped him.

'Totally not the right time Zach' I laughed.

I shivered again and felt Zach do the same next to me. The cold from the floor seemed to be seeping into our bones. Zach ignored it and continued to brush my hair away from my face, his breath still warm against my skin.

'You know, I heard kissing warms people up' Zach whispered.

'Really?' I said sarcastically, totally not prepared as Zach's lips gently pressed to mine and our breath became conjoined.

The kiss lasted five minutes and twenty two seconds encase you were wondering… and once it was over it wasn't long before I felt myself drift off into a peaceful sleep, Zach's arms still tightly around me.

They were still there when I woke up. I stayed with my eyes closed for a moment, treasuring Zach's peaceful sleeping as I felt his warm breath still on my face and the warmth from his body.

It was then I felt something else. Water. I looked up and saw the rain coming through the cracks, dripping onto us, and then my heart dropped and I could have sworn I stopped breathing as I realised the cave was slowly filling up with water. The sea was flooding in through the gaps.

I shivered, a motion that was only half caused by the freezing water seeping through my clothes and into my skin, a cold that even Zach's warm arms couldn't prevent. I didn't want to wake him, his breathing was nice and even, his skin still warm, something that I knew would change when he woke up and felt the ice cold water.

I kissed his forehead, knowing I would regret waking him as I whispered into his ear. 'Zach, you need to wake up!' I whispered urgently shaking him awake.

I saw a small smile cross his lips as he felt me still tightly in his arms. Then I saw his expression change to one of horror as he too felt the water.

I leapt up, closely followed by Zach.

We scanned the walls, we scanned the floor, we pushed on rocks and kicked loose stones, but it was no use, we were trapped and the water was coming in.

I walked further into the shadows at the back of the cave despite Zach telling me to stay with him and noticed a ledge. We would be able to get up there when the water got high enough, the stones were too smooth and slippery to climb at the moment. It was a risk, we could slip, we could get stuck up there, it could be a dead end, but it might also lead outside.

'Cammie?' Zach's worried voice echoed around the cave.

I came out of the shadows. 'I'm here Zach, I've got an idea'

Zach agreed it was risky, but we both agreed we had no other option.

We picked up our soaking wet backpacks, sharing out the water we had between us. I was already feeling dizzy and weak from lack of food and I knew Zach was probably hungry too.

The water was soon up to our knees, soaking through Zach's jeans, touching my bare skin as I cursed Macey for making me wear shorts.

'You must be freezing!' Zach exclaimed as he took in my bare lean legs.

I shrugged trying to hide my shivering, but failing.

'We need to stay moving' Zach insisted as he starting to do jumping jacks, grabbing my hand as I did the same.

The water splashed up our legs but we carried on until the water was at my waist, only just reaching Zach's thighs.

'I…Can't…Jump…Anymore' I stuttered, trying to stop my teeth chattering.

Zach stopped too and hugged me closer, as the water was up to his stomach now, almost at my chest. It seeped into my bones, I was so cold I could no long stop my teeth from chattering and I couldn't even control my body's shivers anymore.

'If I go first, then I can pull you up as I'm stronger' Zach insisted.

I agreed as I helped him up, his arm scratched badly on a rough stone as he pulled himself up to the ledge.

'Cammie, I think you were right, I can feel air from outside!' Zach cried happily.

'Cammie?' he repeated.

I was sinking, treading water as it came up to my neck. Everything was numb; my breath was coming out in gasps as I tried to stay conscious, feeling myself drifting into darkness as my whole head submerged under the icy cold water. I opened my eyes ignoring the stinging; I was under the water still, unable to move my aching limbs as I was sucked further and further under, wanting to just give up.

But I thought of Zach, I thought of Zach who I knew wouldn't go back without me, I thought of him saying I was strong not weak and then I saw a hand reach into the water, I knew it was just a matter of time until Zach jumped in to come and get me out and I couldn't let him do that.

I reached out my numb arm somehow and my hand touched Zach's lightly, his hand gripping mine hard as I felt a pull and my head surfaced. I gasped as the fresh air entered my lungs burning them.

'I've got you Cam, I've got you' He repeated as if he had to say it to make it true.

I couldn't speak and I couldn't move but Zach who was warmer as he was out the water somehow managed to haul me up over the rock, he was so gentle I didn't even feel myself brush against the rock.

'Cammie' I saw his lips say, but didn't hear.

I was cold, so cold.

'Cammie!' his voice started coming into focus as I warmed up slightly from being out of the water and got my breath back.

'Zach' I whispered finally and I saw him sigh in relief.

He helped me up; I was still shaking uncontrollably as we crouched low and walked to the back of the cave, Zach supporting most of my weight as I stumbled along, barely able to see where I was going.

'Zach… Let… Go… Of…Me… I'll... Make… You… Colder…' I stuttered.

'No' Zach said as he held me closer.

We gave each other a look of such relief as we felt the cold air whip at our faces, however as we approached the end of the cave we saw sunlight streaming in.

'We were in there all night?' questioned Zach in shock, already knowing the answer.

I couldn't reply as we stumbled outside, feeling the warmth against our cold and aching body.

I lay on the ground and Zach collapsed beside me.

'They'll find us here' Zach whispered. 'We're in an open space, they'll find us'

I nodded as Zach's familiar warm arms wrapped around me. I moved closer to him feeling his breath on my face again. I wrapped my legs around his body, wanting to be as close to him as possible. His hands gently pulled me over so I was on top of him. I laid my head against his warm chest, and drifted into unconsciousness.

'She's freezing!'

'She's soaked through to the skin!'

'Get her a towel!'

'Get her a jumper!'

I felt hands try to pry me out the arms of Zach.

'No' I croaked

'Cammie, we need to get you and Zach inside' someone said.

'No, help Zach first' my voice was so weak.

'Gallagher Girl, let them help you, I'm fine, I'll be right by you' Zach said, it was only then that I let go of Zach and strong hands lifted me, hands that felt the opposite to Zach's smooth skin.

Either Zach was a mind reader or he knew me that well because I heard him say 'Let me carry her back'

'You're not strong enough' I think Mr Solomon said.

'I am, just let me carry her back'

I felt a shift of hands and I felt better as I found myself in the arms I recognised, Zach must have had a jacket put over him because his body felt larger and padded. I then realised I too had had jackets and towels put over me.

'I can walk' I croaked determinedly, if Zach had the strength to carry me then I could surely walk.

'Remember what we talked about before this Cammie, you don't always have to be the strong one, you got us out of there so just relax' Zach's voice was so quiet in my ear I wasn't sure if I was imagining it.

I leaned closer into his chest, still shivering, my eyes still tightly shut like they were too heavy to open.

'Someone get her another jumper she's still freezing, she was in the water for ages!' I heard Zach shout out.

My heart stopped as I recognised the voice of my Aunt Abby say 'Rachel there's something we should talk about, something you should know about something that happened to Cammie'

I didn't stay awake to listen though as I fell asleep.

When I woke up I was warm, under a large comfy blanket, and someone's arms. I managed to open my eyes that felt like lead weights and saw Zach's arms wrapped around me. I turned around to face him and saw he was asleep, his breathing calming. He felt me move and woke up, looking up at me smiling.

'How're you feeling?' he asked.

'Good' and it was the truth. My body felt heavy and numb but I also felt warm and in Zach's arms it felt like nothing would go wrong.

I expected him to think I was lying but he must have been able to tell I was okay because he didn't question me.

'How about you' I asked worriedly.

'I'm fine' He smiled happily.

'What happened? After I… You know… passed out?'

'Well, I told them everything that had happened and we took you back to the hotel. You've been asleep three days, I've been here the whole time'

I smiled but then grimaced as I suddenly remembered the conversation Aunt Abby had had with my mom.

'What is it?' Zach asked frantically seeing my expression 'Are you in pain?'

'No… it's just… does my mom know… about me getting stabbed'

Zach nodded his head.

'Was she mad?'

'A little, but she took most of it out on Aunt Abby' I shifted guiltily. 'She was more worried than angry though, she comes in about every hour, and in fact, she should come in soon'

Zach was right, she came in a few minutes later, a smile lighting up her face as she saw me awake.

Zach left for a moment as we talked, my mom saying how she wished I'd told her but she wanted to concentrate on my future instead of past and she told me how proud of me she was.

My friends visited too, I had been put in a spare room.

Macey had come to visit and she seemed particularly excited about something, but I couldn't figure out what, until she suddenly surprised me by saying 'You're allowed to come out of here tomorrow!'

'So..?' I said confused.

'So... We can have the party! Everyone's coming!'

'Great!' I lied, knowing this party would be full of bad surprises.

**Coming up (I stole the idea of having a 'coming up' section from someone else, sorry...: The party, a 'special' Zammie moment AND a Solomon and Rachel moment ;) + an argument.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I AM SO SO SO sorry to the people who have been waiting for me to update. I was SO unbelievably stuck on this story and this chapter defiantly isn't my best work. I promise I'll update sooner next time and I'll also make sure the next chapter is much, much better! **

**I'm a little stuck on this story, I think I'll be ending it soon because I feel like it's getting a little repetitive. However there's lots of action in this and I know that's what you all wanted, so enjoy!**

**Sorry I'll be leaving you on a cliffy :')**

I sighed as Macey took out the alcohol from under her bed, watching Tina and Anna's faces light up.

'I really don't think I should be doing this…' I shrugged as Macey locked me in a scrutinising stare.

A shot glass was forced into my hand and Macey filled it up, almost letting it overflow.

'Macey, that's enough!' I cried.

She filled up everyone else's glasses; I couldn't help but notice Zach was nowhere to be seen.

'He didn't want to come, he said it was a stupid idea' Liz said as she noticed me looking around.

'Oh…' I said, pretending not to be bothered.

'Three, two, one!' Macey shouted as everyone downed the glasses, grimacing at the taste.

'That's DESGUSTING' Liz said shocked, her tiny face screwed up repulsively.

I glanced at my still full glass.

'Cammie!' Macey shouted at me, the alcohol already going to her head as she poured everyone another glass.

'I can't do this' I whispered, more to myself than everyone else.

I leapt off the bed and ran out the door. I noticed a figure at the end of the corridor.

'Hi Zach' I said as I approached him. He looked… angry.

'How could you be so stupid Cam!' He yelled at me, so loud I thought it would bring the girls running, but they hadn't seemed to have heard and I could still hear their high pitched laughter.

'Do what?' I whispered timidly.

'We spend all this time trying to keep you alive and then you go and drink… that stuff!'

'No Zach, you don't understand' I swivelled his body around to face me, it was the first time I'd actually wanted someone to look at my pale and thin face but I needed Zach to look at me, I needed him to trust me. 'I haven't drunk anything, I would never do that, I would never purposely risk my health!'

His hands entwined in my hair. 'I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry!'

'It's fine Zach' I shrugged.

'No, no it's not' He looked deep into my eyes, holding me in some kind of trance. 'I just, I feel like I should protect you'

I couldn't help it, I smiled.

'Cam don't smile at me, I accuse you of drinking alcohol and messing yourself up, I don't deserve a smile' He grimaced.

'If being with you means you being over protective then I'm prepared to take that risk' I smiled again, the smile reaching my eyes for the first time, I not only felt but almost looked like my old self, maybe that's why Zach felt inclined to press his body closer and kiss me.

'AHEM' someone cleared their throat from beside us and me and Zach flew apart immediately.

'Sorry to… interrupt…' Mr Solomon raised his eyebrows sarcastically and I felt myself blush. 'I was wondering if you knew where your mother was'

'Ur…' I stammered trying to sound coherent. 'Have you tried her room, sir?'

It was Mr Solomon's turn to blush. 'Well… I didn't want to… disturb her… it is quite late after all'

'I'm sure she'll be awake sir, she's usually up at this time' I replied.

'Okay, well maybe you and Zach should be off to bed soon too… in your own rooms of course!' He added hastily.

'Right…' I stared to say until I heard Bex's shrill laugh echo around the corridor.

'What's going on in your room?' Mr Solomon frowned.

'Just watching a movie' I lied smoothly.

'Really? With what TV?' Mr Solomon asked smugly.

'Ur…' I stammered.

'Portable DVD player sir' Zach smiled.

'Oh yes, of course' Mr Solomon nodded. 'Well goodnight'

I watched him turn the corner, varying his paces as always to check for tails.

I breathed a sigh of relief and felt Zach do the same beside me.

'I guess we should go and check on them?' I asked Zach.

'Yeah, looks like we're the only ones that don't seem to be enjoying the party, even Grant and Jonas have gone inside'

'Okay' I sighed, bracing myself as I opened the door.

As soon as I opened it voices blared out, the noise shocking me. I slipped through and dragged Zach in after me before quickly shutting the door.

The room was in absolute chaos.

I couldn't help but notice that my full shot glass was now empty. My bed covers were all over the floor, the mattress being used as a trampoline. Macey and Tina were blindly flicking through a magazine and giggling as they looked at the hot guys. I blinked in shock as I saw Liz and Jonas in the corner doing some kind of eskimo kiss! I saw Bex on top of Grant, kissing each other roughly, but that didn't really surprise me.

'Oh Caaaaaammie!' Bex slurred loudly from across the room.

'Oh, hi Bex' I replied calmly.

I looked around the room checking everyone was okay.

I noticed Anna passed out on the floor. 'Anna!' I bent down and shook her.

'She's sleeping Cam' Liz giggled.

'No she's not sleeping!' I said urgently.

But then just as I was about to panic she rolled over onto her side and threw up all over MY pillow, luckily most of it was going in her hair.

'Argh!' I cried as I leapt back trying to avoid her vomit.

'Oops' She murmured.

'Anna I'll help you back to your room so you can sleep okay?' I heard Zach say from beside me.

'But… but what about the party' Anna cried weakly.

'Party's over Anna' I said as I grabbed one of her arms almost throwing up myself from the smell. Zach quickly grabbed her other arm as he saw me struggle to lift her body.

We dragged her out the room quickly checking the corridor before we dragged her across the corridor to her room.

'We can't just leave her here with sick in her hair' I hesitated as we laid her on her bed.

'She'll be fine, when Tina sobers up she'll come and look after her' Zach countered as he laid her on her side encase she was sick again.

'Argh' I groaned as I shrugged off my vomit covered hoodie.

I threw it onto the floor knowing I'd never want to wear it again, watching Zach do the same to his jacket.

'Thanks for that Anna' He muttered staring down at his jacket.

'I guess we better go back to the room' I sighed bracing myself for the noise.

As I exited Anna's room and emerged into the corridor I heard a different sound though, the sound of two people kissing.

I smiled to myself at first; sure I could make out Bex and Grants figures at the end of the corridor.

I nudged Zach and he closed the door as he exited Anna's room quietly so as not to disturb them.

But then his face fell.

'What?' I whispered, and then suddenly I saw what Zach saw. I looked closer and realised the people were too tall to be teenagers.

'Mom!' I couldn't help but gasp.

I watched her and Mr Solomon pull away, much like me and Zach had done earlier, the irony was almost too much.

Mr Solomon and my mom just stared, for once they had no idea what to say, they weren't sure whether to be spies or teachers, they gaped at each other like they were two teenagers being caught.

I felt sick in my stomach as the image of them kissing played over and over in my mind like a broken record.

But then for reasons I'll never understand I smiled.

'Cammie, I… I… we should talk' my mom finally stuttered.

'Okay, sure!' I grinned much to my mom's shock.

'Urm, I'll… leave you too it' Mr Solomon murmured as he staggered off.

'Let's go into your room, it will be easier to talk in there and…'

'NO!' Me and Zach said in unison as my mom got closer and closer to the door.

'My friends… they're sleeping!' I said quickly.

'They don't sound like they're sleeping' my mom raised her eyebrows and we heard Bex's excited scream pierce the air.

'Tina's in there, y'know' I said, and that was all it took to stop my mom. Her face hardened at Tina's name, knowing that she would rather not explain the situation in front of the daughter of a gossip panellist.

My mom lead us to her room, at first I thought she was going to get rid of Zach but then I realised Zach was basically like a son to Mr Solomon and it was almost as much to do with him as it was to do with me.

My mom's lips stiffened as me and Zach sat close together on the bed, I could practically sense that he was restraining himself from putting his arm around me.

'Look Cam, I'll just get straight to the point, I mean you clearly want an explanation kiddo and I don't blame you so…'

'No' I stopped her. 'I don't need to know mom, you know what? it's your business, I like Mr Solomon and I'm fine with it if he makes you happy' I wasn't really sure why I'd said it, I mean in reality I was DYING to know what was going on between them but I also felt it was my mom's business, just like what was going on between me and Zach was my business and she'd never once pried into it, she deserved to be happy after all she'd gone through thanks to me.

I turned towards Zach 'Unless you want to know of course, I mean Mr Solomon is like…'

'You can say it Cam, It's true, Mr Solomon is like a father to me' and then Zach grinned 'and I feel the same, I mean, it's none of our business really'

My mom seemed pretty taken aback. I wasn't sure if she'd expected questions or tantrums, after all she was actually offering to tell us, but I'd learnt that some information is need to know, and this I didn't really need to know.

'Are… are you sure?' My mom asked still in shock.

'Of course mom' I grinned as I pulled Zach up from the bed.

'Well' I said faking a yawn. 'I'm really tired, I'm going to bed'

My mom glanced at the clock, even though I'm pretty sure she already knew what the time was. 'Good idea, you need to be up early to pack! We'll be home soon kiddo, I know this has been hard for you'

'I love you mom' I said, my voice chocking up.

She pulled me into a hug. 'I love you too Cammie, now go and get some sleep'

I nodded and pulled Zach out the room, his arm draped around my shoulder.

'I guess we better see how the parties getting on' I grimaced as a picture of vomit and alcohol filled my mind.

I smiled to myself as Zach's face fell and I could tell he was thinking of a similar picture.

However, we didn't get very far.

'And whose idea was it?' Yelling filled the corridor. Me and Zach exchanged worried glances before turning the corner, ready to face the music.

Mr Solomon was stood in front of the door of our room. A very angry Macey was staring defiantly back and it sounded like Bex was trying to explain herself while acting at least half sober.

'Oh Ms Morgan and Mr Goode, how lovely of you to join the… party' He spat as he turned towards us, holding an empty bottle of vodka in his hand.

'All of you will be coming with me to Ms Morgan's room to explain to her what's happened here and…'

'What's going on?' A timid voice asked from the room opposite and Mr Solomon turned in disbelief towards Anna.

'And what happened to you?!' Mr Solomon demanded as he took in Anna's pale face and the sick in her hair.

I rolled my eyes, positive that Anna could not have picked a worse time to wake up.

'I… I think I'm going to be sick…' Anna started as she ran back into the room.

Mr Solomon was fuming. 'Right then, those of you that can actually stand will you follow me to Ms Morgan's office… Now'

I started to follow down the corridor but Mr Solomon stopped me. 'No not you two, you weren't at the party I'm assuming?'

'Well…' I hesitated, Gallagher Girls were always meant to stay together but I didn't want my mom having something to get mad at me about.

'No, Cam had nothing to do with it!' Bex said shooting me a quick smile; I gave her a sympathetic one back as the girls glumly followed Mr Solomon down the hallway.

'Come back to my room?' I whispered to Zach, fairly shocked at myself, but then and again when a terrorist group has been after you and your best friends are getting told off by your mom it does get pretty scary on your own.

Zach followed me into the room but we were met with the stench of alcohol.

'Maybe my room instead then?' Zach grinned.

As we passed my mom's room I felt a pang of guilt as I heard shouting, and a lot of 'YOU DID WHAT?'

We crept past and Zach pulled me into his room. I suddenly cursed myself for forgetting my pyjamas.

'You only have one bed?' I said suddenly, looking at the large king sized bed that filled up the room.

'Well I guess it could technically be classed as two?' He asked sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes, yawning involuntarily in the process.

That night I fell asleep in Zach's arms, I wasn't sure how long he lay awake watching me but I know that I fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow.

When I woke up I felt Zach's arms around my body, holding me gently so as not to hurt me. I smiled to myself as I heard his gentle snores, his warm breath was soothing on the back of my neck.

I fell back to sleep.

'Cammie!'

I groaned and rolled over in Zach's arms.

'Cammie, Zach, wake up!' I frowned at the mention of Zach's name… because that meant Zach wasn't the one that was waking me up…

'Mom!' I sat up with a start, closely followed by Zach who hurriedly took his arms away.

'Cammie, we had a rule, boys on this floor, girls on the floor below!'

'I… I…' I stuttered, completely unsure what to say. I was then pretty happy I hadn't changed into my pyjamas and I still had my clothes from yesterday on, I decided that made it look less… suspicious.

My mom raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows. 'We'll be talking about this later, right now you need to go and pack and get… dressed…' She worded carefully. I knew that later would bring a very awkward conversation.

'And where were YOU last night?' Macey cried, far too loudly for someone that should have a hangover.

'I could ask the same to you!' I retorted, trying to make her forget her question.

'Uh, uh' Macey made the most annoying noise.

I sighed knowing she would never let this go. I was really unsure how to word my answer because whatever I said made it sound so wrong.

'I slept with…' I started, watching her eyes widen. 'I mean…' I started again 'I slept IN Zach's room…'

Her eyes became even widen as I finished and before she could speak I quickly added 'NO Macey, we SLEPT'

'Okay, okay' she sighed. I gestured for her to tell her side of the story.

'Well last night we were all pretty much out of it… some more than others…' She glanced over at Liz who for once was not listening to an audio book but instead had a pillow over her head. She also glanced at Bex who had for some reason ended up on the floor, dangerously close to my pillow with Anna's sick on it. 'Anyway' she continued 'Tina and her big gob thought it was a good idea to knock on Mr Solomon's door and then run away again… while she was holding a bottle of vodka'

I rolled my eyes. 'Well obviously Mr Solomon being the spy he is found out, came to our room, we got busted, your mom gave us extra CoveOps homework and…' Macey smiled. 'She gave us headache pills too and advised us to take them in the morning'

I laughed. I could imagine my mom's surprise as a group of drunk teenage spies walked into her office.

Me and Macey packed our bags, making sure we took extra care to not pack anything covered in vomit. We kindly packed Bex and Liz's things too and TRIED to clean some of the sick off the walls, but I was pretty sure we would be getting a pretty hefty bill for the damage which Macey promised she would pay.

'Time to wake the others up then I guess' I sighed.

'Right' Macey replied as we walked over to Liz.

'Liz, get up now, we're leaving' Macey tried. I rolled my eyes.

'Liz, Pop quiz' I whispered. Her eyes shot open.

'Ow, my head!' Liz cried as she sat up. I chucked a headache pill in her general direction and walked over to Bex, knowing I would regret what I was about to do in a few days' time when she recovered.

'Ouch!' Bex cried out as I hit her hard on her arm and she woke with a start.

As we met everyone else outside my mom and Mr Solomon were met with grumbles and grunts and girls clutching their heads. I could have sworn I saw Mr Solomon smile.

'Well girls, I hope you all had a good sleep' She smiled sweetly at the girls before her with aching heads. 'I'm afraid the private jet has been cancelled so we'll be going back by boat instead, now there's no threat to Cam we've been permitted to travel by yacht'

I was pretty sure this was meant to be good news but even Macey who usually perked up at the mention of 'Yacht' seemed to feel she couldn't stomach a day travelling on a rough sea and watching girls puke up their guts out over the side of a boat.

'Don't worry!' My mom added hastily, sensing everyone's discomfort. 'The sea is very calm today, the boat is fairly big so you won't feel it rocking that much, and I'm sure you'll be sleeping most of the time'

So with a lot of mumbling the girls followed my mom and Mr Solomon onto a bus that would take us to the port.

We boarded the boat; it was a bit like a small ferry with rooms in twos. I wasn't surprised to see my mom had put me and Bex together as far away as possible from Zach's room. I could hear Liz next door already moaning that she felt sick, nearly everyone else was sleeping, I mean the drive to the post had taken nearly all day after the amount of times we had to stop for fresh air and for people to throw up! But we were finally here.

I glanced over at Bex who was snoring louder than I'd even heard her snore before.

I got out of bed and looked out the tiny cabin window. The sea was getting really rough, I could feel it rocking us back and forth so roughly that when we tipped towards the sea it almost came up to the window.

From the sounds of Liz vomiting next door she felt it too.

I steadied myself on the bed. I didn't bother putting on any slippers so I walked barefoot through the cabin and out the door. The rocking was even worse here and even though I never ever got sea sick I couldn't help but feel a little queasy.

I walked along the hallways, trying to avoid falling flat onto my face. No one seemed to be awake and all the lights in the cabins were out but I could bet that my mom and Mr Solomon would be up on deck keeping guard. I finally decided I would go up and see if they knew when the sea would calm down a little.

As I got up onto the deck it felt a little calmer because it was higher up but I could still feel the waves slamming against the boat.

I was careful as I looked around the deck, making sure I stayed clear of the edges of the boat, I knew my mom couldn't handle any other injuries.

I spotted my mom and Mr Solomon the other side of the boat; they were holding hands, staring out to sea. I smiled to myself. If they were doing that then I was pretty sure there was nothing to worry about.

I turned to go back inside and maybe try and get some sleep but I almost walked straight into someone.

'Hey Gallagher Girl' Zach smiled.

'What are you doing out here?' I asked.

'Like I said, I'm an over protective boyfriend'

I smiled and rolled my eyes as he led me nearer the side of the boat and sat down. I sat down beside him, entwining my fingers with his.

'The sea is so rough' I breathed.

'I know, I heard Mr Solomon say to your mom there was a storm coming, I brought us round the side because I knew they wouldn't let us be up here, it's too dangerous' Zach rolled his eyes.

'The storm… it's nothing serious is it?' I asked, trying to hide the rising panic in my voice.

'Of course not, it will pass' Zach smiled.

Suddenly a giant wave leapt up and slashed over the deck.

'Argh!' I cried jumping up, beginning to ring out my soaking wet top.

Zach laughed at me, beginning to stand up too until he leapt up too as a wave splashed over him.

'Zach… I think we should go inside now…' I said urgently.

'I think you may be right Gallagher Girl' He said pulling me quickly towards the door.

'Zach!' I yelled through the sudden rumble of thunder. Rain started to pelt down, soaking straight through to my skin.

'I know Gallagher Girl, I'm going as fast as I can and…'

'No! Zach Look!' I said pulling him to a stop and pointing weakly out to sea.

Zach gasped. There was a massive wave coming towards us, and when I said massive I meant the size of a wall.

'Cam, we need to get everyone now!' He yelled at me through the crashing of waves.

'It's too late for that Zach, it's coming straight towards us, it's going to plough through the boat, it will leave it in splinters!' I yelled.

'No, no Cammie, it's never too late!' he yelled.

And those are the words I kept with me as we ran down the hallway, shouting, trying to get everyone up, I won't ever forget those words.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: A quick update but a short chapter… I'm sorry! I didn't purposely leave you on a cliffy this time but it seemed a good place to stop.**

**Thanks for the reviews, I read them all!**

**Enjoy!**

'No! Let go of me Zach! My mom and Mr Solomon might not know!' I pulled out of Zach's grasp.

'No! You need to stay inside, your still injured and…'

'I'm not some damsel in distress Zach!' I yelled.

'Okay, okay, you get your mom, I'll get everyone up… Be careful' He gently kissed me on the forehead before taking one last look at me and disappearing inside.

The rain was soaking straight through me, my hair was clamped onto my forehead and as I ran I continued to slip over the slippery deck and land painfully on the floor. I was going to have some nice bruises tomorrow.

'Mom!' I yelled at her, she was standing under the cover with Mr Solomon, they seemed completely oblivious to the huge wave coming straight at the boat.

'Mom!' I yelled again as I ran closer, seeing her look up in surprise.

'Cammie! You silly girl you'll get hypothermia, your soaked through!' She exclaimed as she made her way into the rain.

My voice was hoarse and rough as I pointed towards the wave and said weakly 'Look!'

'Joe, Get the lifeboats now!' My mom suddenly snapped into spy mode.

'Cammie make sure you get everyone out here, this boats going to go down and we'll just have to keep a tight grip of the lifeboats and hope we can get everyone out and…' She paused as she saw the rest of the girls following timidly behind Zach.

'Girls!' She struggled to keep her voice loud enough to hear over the crashing of waves.

'That wave is going to hit, our best chance is to jump in and have a tight hold of the lifeboats so that we won't get injured when this boat splits into a million pieces'

She began handing out life jackets and we fumbled to get them on, but at some time our spy instincts kicked in and I think we realised we weren't just girls stuck on a boat in a storm, we were Gallagher Girls.

'Anna, Tina!' My mom called, passing them a small rubber dinghy to hold onto. 'Keep hold of that girls like your life depends on it!' she demanded, and they nodded solemnly, more than up to the challenge.

I watched as they jumped into the sea, their faces cringing as they felt the cold, their knuckles pale from having such a strong grip on the dinghy.

I staggered back a little as I saw the wave approaching even closer.

'Bex, Liz and Macey' she called, and I watched them do the same and cry out indignantly as the cold water lapped up at them.

She seemed to hesitate as she eyed over me and Zach.

'Cammie and Zach…' She said finally giving us another dinghy. 'I trust you Zach, Cammie's injured; you need to look after her'

I rolled my eyes. 'Of course Ms Morgan' Zach agreed. And then we jumped.

I felt the blackness again, the pull of the water submerging me, just like before. But then I realised something was different; Zach's hand was in mine this time.

Suddenly the pull of the water seemed to let go and I was floating upwards, Zach's strong arms working to keep us above the water.

'Cammie, Cammie!' He cried at me. 'Are you okay?'

'Fine!' I croaked unconvincingly. My side ached, my head was foggy and it felt like my lungs were about to burst, but of course, no one would ever know that. 'I'm fine' I repeated, determined to get Zach to stop worrying.

I heard the splash and saw my mom in the water next to me. She glanced at me one last time, pure worry in her eyes.

But then I turned to face the wave again.

I heard the cries of Gallagher Girls telling each other to hold onto their hands, to hold onto the boats.

As the wave hit us like the force of a wall, I remembered, it's never over.

I was spinning in the water, my hand threatening to tear away from Zach's but beside me Zach's fingers stayed tightly grabbing my hand.

I felt the familiar pull of the wave, dragging us not only under but away from everyone else. Zach looked like he was unconscious and I knew I was on the verge of it myself.

My eyes burned from the salt but I forced my eyes to open, everything was a blur and I couldn't see the boat anywhere, we were being dragged further and further under but Zach's hand stayed gripped to mine, almost like it was involuntary.

Then we were rising and it was a while before I realised my legs were kicking and I was fighting through the current, the surface becoming closer and closer. Zach was a dead weight on my arm, his body constantly threatening to pull me back under but I kept my legs kicking and finally I felt the water part over my head and I quickly pulled up Zach beside me.

Now that we were on the surface the life jackets seemed to be able to hold us up and I could finally catch my breathe. There was something burning my face and it took me a while to realise it was the sun. The storm had already passed.

'Mom?' I called, but hardly any sound came out. I span around wildly, trying to see anyone, anything.

'Mom?' I called again and this time a little sound came out, but it wasn't enough, we were alone.

I took a little more of a look around when I felt my breathe returning to a more steady pattern.

Zach was still unconscious next to me but I was thankful for the fact that he was breathing. The sun beamed down, soaking into my numb skin. The water was still freezing but it was like I was immune, however I knew that we would start to feel it soon if we didn't get help. But then as I looked around again I realised my mom and my classmates weren't beside me.

We were literally in the middle of the sea; I could only see blue sky that stretched out as far as I could see. I turned again and panic hit me as I saw a familiar sight everywhere I looked. There was no one around, and nothing.

We must have been under the water longer than I realised and been dragged away further than I had thought.

I then realised even now we were still being dragged further and further away by the current that wanted to pull us south. I tried to fight against it but with the little energy I had left and Zach's weight to take too it was completely impossible.

There was nothing I could do but let the current drag us towards the unknown, and for a spy the unknown is a pretty scary thing.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Ok I am so stuck for ideas it's unreal… but I hope this chapter is satisfactory. I'm defiantly going to have to end this story soon so maybe a few more chapters.**

**Thanks for the reviews!**

'Cammie! Cammie are you okay?' I shook myself awake in time to see Zach opening his eyes. My whole body was numb, I'd lost all feeling. We were still being dragged along, except this time my feet were dragging against a surface… sand.

'Are YOU okay?' I retorted.

'I'm fine' Zach lied. He was standing up in the water; it came up to his knees.

'Zach!' I gasped. 'Oh my gosh, your leg!' It had been completely sliced open on a rock, blood trickling down into the water. 'I'm so sorry, I tried to stay awake, I'm so sorry Zach!'

'Sh, it's fine, it's just a scratch, you saved my life Cammie'

'No… no I didn't?' I said confused.

'Of course you did, I passed out and you got us to the surface'

'But… but then I passed out and you got hurt' I hung my head.

'Cammie, I'm going to get angry if you don't stop blaming yourself' He smirked.

'Okay, okay' I said as I attempted to stand but fell with a splash straight back into the water.

'Woah, let me help you' He grinned as he took my arm and led me to the shore.

I fell down exhausted onto the sand. My clothes hung off me in a drenched mess.

I felt Zach collapse beside me and I forced my foggy head to focus and do what Mr Solomon had always taught me to do. Notice things.

We seemed to be on an island, a kind of horse shoe shape. There was a light dusting of sand covering the earth and a forest in the centre with palm trees on the edges. The sea was gentle now and merely lapped up the sand, it was ludicrous that just hours before we'd been stuck in the middle of a storm.

I then looked around again, this time taking in the smaller details that were much more important.

'Current is blowing in a 90 degree path which means we've most likely travelled over one hundred miles in the hour we were out there' I told Zach.

'Island is most likely a private holiday destination which means there is a slight chance of civilisation' added Zach.

'And… no sign of any of the others…' I sighed.

'Come on, we better go check it out and phone the Gallagher Academy, I'm sure they're really worried'

'Right' I agreed as we linked our hands together and began the walk along the island. The sun began drying out our thin layer of clothes but I couldn't help shivering as the wind whipped against my wet skin. Zach walked with a slight limp that he tried to mask and so I pretended not to notice.

We finally approached a large glass building, it looked modern, and the type of place celebrities would spend a holiday in.

As we walked through the crystal fronted doors I'd never felt more out of place in my life, but Zach held onto my hand tightly and dragged me to the reception desk.

'Oh my…!' The receptionist started. She was young and her eyes filled with sympathy as she took in our bedraggled forms.

'Can we use your phone please?' Zach asked politely.

'Of course, you take your time' the receptionist said hastily.

My heart drummed against my skin as I punched in the number that I knew better than my own name.

'Hello, Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, how may I help you?' My heart sunk as I heard Madam Dabney. She spoke with a politeness but I could hear a little worry in her voice. When Madam Dabney worries it's never a good sign.

'Hello?' She repeated becoming impatient.

I stuttered, unsure what to say first. I finally settled on 'Is my mom there?'

'Oh Cameron!' She seemed to exhale in relief. 'I'm afraid not'

My heart stopped.

'I'm glad you're safe though, we got a call saying an emergency flair had been set off from the boat you were travelling back on'

'So… there's no word on my mother?' I worded my sentences carefully, trying to ignore the eavesdropping receptionist.

'We think they've been found, but we haven't heard any more information. The helicopter is out looking for them. Are you both safe and have somewhere to stay because we can't get you picked up until the morning?'

I glanced outside at the greying sky. 'We'll be fine' I reassured her, remembering the sodden hundred dollar note Grandma Morgan had given me to keep in my shoe.

'Call me again in the morning dear, don't worry about your mom and classmates they'll be fine'

'Okay' I replied.

'And Cam… be careful!' she demanded before putting the phone down.

I shrugged at Zach who'd been trying to listen into the conversation.

'I don't think they've got the others back yet, they can't pick us up until the morning'

'Guess we'll have to get a room here then' Zach shrugged too.

'How much for two rooms?' I asked the woman at reception.

'They're four hundred dollars each' She raised her eyebrows at our expressions.

'But tonight they're only one hundred a room because of we've just opened, you're in luck, it also comes with a free breakfast and dinner'

'Okay' I nodded, feeling a little worried as I gave her all of my money.

She frowned at the crumpled and torn money but accepted it anyway.

She handed us a key. 'There's a lost property down the hall, just help yourself to any clothes in there'

We thanked her and rummaged through the stacks of clothes.

Zach found something quickly, and went to change into a pair of jeans and a basic shirt.

I had a little more trouble. I looked through racks of elegant ball gowns and see through bras which must have come from previous celebrity guests… which was a little strange if they'd just opened, but I didn't dwell on it and continued to rummage through the racks.

I sighed as I pulled out a pair of leathery type leggings that I wouldn't have dared to wear before but I guess I could risk it now I was skinner. Besides, Bex would love them. I found a checked shirt that would look nice tucked in so I grabbed that too. I rummaged through the shoes but then decided bare foot would be a better look than either the high heels or crocs.

I went into the bathroom and changed thankful for the hairbrush that had come courtesy of the room. I brushed through my hair which was dry with salt and decided that I would just chuck it up into a high pony tail.

'Wow' Zach smirked.

'Wow yourself' I added as we walked up the stairs to find our room.

As we entered I could see why it was usually so expensive. Silk sheets were draped over a DOUBLE BED. I opened another door and found a walk in wardrobe. The window had a fantastic view over the sea. I looked away when I realised my mom might still be out there somewhere with my best friends.

'They'll find them' Zach smiled.

I shrugged, I didn't want to jinx it.

'Come on, lets get dinner I'm starving!'

'Me too' I agreed.

We walked into a massive room, the smell of a massive buffet greeting us,

'wow, this looks amazing' I breathed.

'It sure does!' Zach cried as he hungrily grabbed half the food and guzzled down a drink.

I paused. 'Zach… isn't it strange… I mean no ones here and it's cheap to stay here tonight and I mean this place is clearly amazing and…'

'Cammie!' Zach laughed. 'It's fine, now eat'

I dug into my food and drink, but I couldn't get rid of the nagging doubt at the back of my mind that something wasn't right. Not to mention the fact that Zach had stolen the best seat that over looked the doors.

'Cammie…' Zach asked calmly and for the first time he put down his knife and fork.

'What?' I said, panicking.

'I want you to stay calm, but I think this hotels been compromised'

'What?' I felt like yelling but I made my voice into a harsh whisper.

'What do we do?' I asked calmly, hating the uncomfort of having my back to the door and not knowing what was going on.

All of a sudden Zach's hand grabbed mine firmly and he let out a yell. 'WE RUN!'


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: This is it. The moment I've been dreading but at the same time looking forward to. IT'S THE LAST CHAPTER.**

**I'm sorry, I could've made it longer… but at the same time I couldn't because I was totally stuck for ideas. So I'm sorry, but I am still writing my other two stories so be sure to follow them!**

**Thank you for all the reviews and the people that have kept me writing this, I loved hearing your opinions!**

Zach pulled me away from the table and we ran to the end of the room. Zach suddenly shoved me to the side and a bullet flew past where I had been standing half a second before. I sat on the floor dazed for a moment before I was pulled up again and I heard the bullet that had almost hit me shatter one of the large glass windows in front of us, shards of glass rained down on us and pierced our skin.

I didn't have time to register the pain before Zach was brushing the glass away from the window panes and pushing me through. I ducked just in time as a bullet flew over my head. I fell against the remaining shards of glass, adrenaline pulsing through my body, masking the pain of the cuts.

I fell out the window, stumbling on the other side as Zach followed me out. I cried out in pain feeling a shard of glass dig into my foot. I realised it would have been a good idea to wear shoes.

Me and Zach limped along together as we leapt into the shade of the forest.

'I recon the hotel was compromised from the beginning' Zach panted. 'They must have been keeping tabs on us!'

'But who?' I asked. 'Catherine… she's dead!'

'I guess the rest of The Circle still want you' Zach shrugged as if it were totally normal and for me I guess it kind of was.

I heard the distant sound of footsteps and me and Zach looked at each other with wide eyes before holding hands and running deeper into the forest.

It was pitch black by now, my feet hit stones and slid on moss but we carried on running.

'We need to contact the Gallagher Academy again' Zach said.

'You think?' I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

'Staying in here is our best chance of survival, we can't go out into the open, they probably have the island under surveillance from helicopters, and we need to stay sheltered'

'Right' I agreed.

'Here' Zach said gently as he shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around my bleeding foot.

'Thanks' I smiled at him. 'But you need it more than me' I took it off and wrapped it around his leg which was in a pretty bad state from the rocks earlier.

Zach sighed but didn't argue.

'I just want to be _home' _I said suddenly. 'I just want all of this to be over; I just want to be _normal!'_

'Well, normal is seriously overrated' Zach smirked.

His face suddenly turned serious as he whispered 'It will be over soon, I promise_'_

I didn't believe him; in fact I wasn't sure he believed himself.

'I still don't understand why they want _me,_ I mean; I know we killed Catherine…' I paused, studying Zach's face as I said his mother's name, but if he felt anything he didn't show it, his face stayed blank as if it were just a stranger's name. I carried on. 'Why do they want me now?'

'Revenge' Zach shrugged as if it was simple, and I guess it kind of was.

'I'm betting that they'll try to kill you now to take revenge, remember they exist purely for power but I think if we can get away they won't come after you again. I mean, they'll move on'

I nodded, it made sense, they could get their revenge on me easily on a deserted island but at my school they didn't really stand a chance, they would eventually give up.

'They were lucky…' I wondered to myself. 'I mean, a wave just happens to hit and we float to a deserted island with an abandoned hotel that they can easily compromise'

'They would have found another way if the storm hadn't hit, and I don't think it was a coincidence we just floated towards this island when no one else did. We both passed out so I'm guessing they brought us here'

'We need to phone the Gallagher Academy again and…'

'Sh!' Zach suddenly shoved me back against the tree trunk.

A rustling sound echoed around the forest telling us we were no longer alone.

'Three… Two…' Zach whispered in my ear. 'One!' He suddenly shouted as he leapt up, pulling me to my feet. We ran, stumbling through the woods and felt thankful for the footsteps becoming more and more distant.

There was some kind of rumbling in the distance, the sound of a waterfall, a sound that was familiar to me.

'I think we're going to have to jump into the sea again' yelled Zach over the sound of the falls.

I shivered at the thought, the way we'd hardly survived the last time we were in that freezing water.

We came to the edge of the cliff and glanced down at the rocks that lay beneath, the sea was smashing roughly against them. In the distance I could make out the shape of a helicopter coming towards us, a beautiful woman leaning out the door, telling me to stay where I was. My mom.

'We can't jump Zach, the rocks!' I yelled trying to project my voice over the sound of the crashing waves.

'We have to' Zach whispered so quietly that I hardly heard him.

Zach pointed at a small patch of clear sea where the rocks dispersed.

I shook my head. It was too risky. But then I heard the footsteps behind us, and I predicted we only had about a minute before they got to us.

'Take my hand Cammie, just don't let go' The words were a whisper on Zach's lips and as we jumped I braced myself for the hit of cold stone, the pain of the rocks slicing my skin. But instead I just slammed into cold water. The only pain was that Zach's hand was no longer in mine.

I forced my eyes to open and realised I was under the water. I'd lost all feeling in my body, the cold already seeping into my skin. I looked for Zach's hand in mine but it wasn't there. And that's when my heart stopped.

'Zach' I gasped. But it came out more of a splutter in the water. I saw his limp body floating beside me, his eyes shut, his stomach bleeding from a massive cut made by where he'd fallen on the rocks.

I forced myself to focus on his rising and falling chest instead and his beating heart as I pulled him to the surface. I allowed myself to breathe a sigh of relief as the helicopter sounded from above us. But so did the shouts.

'Go in and kill them!'

'They'll die in there anyway!'

'I give up, you know what, let's just get out of here before we're caught'

It was over. It was finally over. I could hardly allow myself to believe it.

Then I heard the other voice.

'Cammie darling give me your hand' I glanced up at my mom above me who was leaning out the helicopter.

'No, take Zach first' I murmured weakly, passing her Zach's limp hand. I saw her about to protest but she took it anyway and with help from Mr Solomon they pulled him up.

'Now give me your hand Cammie…' Her voice was fading away, slipping into the back of my mind.

'Cammie! Give me your hand now!' the voice was panicked, but I just wanted to sleep. It was over.

My head was sucked under the water. The last thing I remember was a slash beside me, and then I passed out.

'You're safe darling' someone was stroking my hair, whispering in my ear.

'Zach' I croaked. 'Zach'

'I'm fine Cammie' My eyes flew open at the sound of his voice. He was limping over to the bed. I tried to ignore the limping part and rejoiced in the part where he was walking.

'My mom was leaning on the bed next to me, her hair soaking wet'

'You… you jumped in and saved me' I smiled up at my mom.

'Of course I did' My mom laughed, I was so happy she wasn't hurt.

'Well… I'll leave you and Zach to talk' she smirked as she walked out the door.

Zach's arms were around me suddenly, his body warm against mine, his lips pressing against my forehead.

'It's over' he whispered.

_It's over._


End file.
